The oldest inflight magazine in American has fallen victim to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a growing apathy towards print in the Western world. American Airlines has announced it will end its inflight magazine, American Way, which began way back in 1966.
American Airlines began filling its seatbacks with American Way — launched as The American Way — in 1966. Since then, the inflight magazine has been a ubiquitous presence on its aircraft, offering perspectives and cultural, lifestyle, or travel-related feature articles. The magazine will retire at the end of June 2021.
While the last issue of American Way, published by global travel media company Ink, is on planes now. In the magazine’s latest issue, the cover story is on LGBTQ neighborhoods in America. In the magazine’s first issue, travelers were offered tickets with a fifty percent discount for their wives. Flight attendants were called stewardesses in those days.
American Airlines to stop publication of inflight magazine
According to media reports, the airline is stopping the publication of the inflight magazine due to the changing preferences of travelers. Travelers now prefer other inflight entertainment options alongside the Wi-Fi provided onboard. American Airlines, like other airlines, offers a range of movies and television shows.
In the coming days, American will introduce new inflight offerings and provide more ways to connect with family and friends. Customers can stream on their phones, tablet, or laptop. “In addition to providing customers with more of what they want, this change will also eliminate some paper waste and reduce weight on our aircraft. We’re always looking for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in our operation, and we welcome opportunities to take even small steps in the right direction,” the airline said.
American Airlines is the latest to join other airline companies such as Delta, and Southwest which had earlier retired their respective inflight magazines. This was done during the pandemic and later decided to discontinue them in the future. Delta was the first to stop publishing its inflight magazine, Sky, last year during the height of the pandemic. Southwest followed soon.
