American Airlines to end printed inflight magazine after 55 years.....

The U.S. mega carrier American Airlines has been putting the American Way inflight magazine in seatbacks since 1966. But that rich, illustrious heritage is coming to an end,  the carrier has confirmed the current issue -  June,  will be the last in printed form.

Over the years the popular inflight magazine has been a ubiquitous presence on our aircraft, with thoughtful perspectives and cultural, lifestyle or travel-related feature articles. It was the mainstay of onboard entertainment, especially in the early years.  It has featured so many key writers over the decades and been the topic of conversation on many a long flight. Or provided respite from agonising delays and cramped seating, 

While the last issue of American Way, published by global travel media company Ink, is on planes now, the carrier has been focused on enhancing its inflight offerings to give customers the content they want most — and there is something for everyone:

A library of up to 600 movies and TV shows

A collection of more than 150 creative, productivity or language classes on American’s new Lifestyle inflight entertainment channel featuring Rosetta Stone and Skillshare content

Customers may continue to view entertaining travel content created in partnership with Ink

Wide range of kids’ content with new releases and classics, as well as options for our youngest travelers provided by BabyFirst and StoryBots

Live music and concert performances from top venues such as Austin City Limits

Meditation and relaxation exercises from Calm, a leader in content that helps users relax, sleep or become more mindful

Customers can stream the content on their own phone, tablet or laptop. Simply enable aeroplane mode and connect to the “AA-Inflight” signal. From there, the entertainment can be accessed from aainflight.com. 

It is a little sad, another nail in the coffin of heritage and another step away from the days when air travel was romantic and airlines cared about passengers. But,  it will save some paper and more to the point for American,  a lot of money. Plus, back in the old days, almost every passenger could be seen flicking through the pages of an inflight mag, if only to get to a bar menu or duty-free section, these days, far fewer passengers turn those, sometimes crinkled pages. Especially with the current pandemic situation, I guess folks are less likely to pick up something that's been well-thumbed by others and one does have to think more about the environment. But sometimes,  especially during longer flights, it's refreshing to take your eyes away from a small screen and look at something a little more old school, like a book or magazine. 

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