It's the 'End of an Era' for an Airline Perk

Those boarding United flights might notice only that the seat-back pockets in front of them aren't quite as full. But the reason for that marks "the end of an era," writes Lucy Schiller at the Columbia Journalism Review. The final edition of the airline's print magazine, Hemispheres, came off the presses in September. And it just so happens that it's the last such publication connected to a major US carrier. Schiller's piece provides an overview of the rise and fall of in-flight magazines, the fall sped along by the use of Wi-Fi inside planes. "It was in a Wi-Fi void, inside of a highfalutin, high-altitude tin can, that the in-flight magazine once thrived, both opulent and casual, an object of simultaneous aspiration and reassurance," she writes.

Some of the authors she interviews say they have received their most enthusiastic feedback from pieces in these magazines. And the story reveals something passengers may not have realized: first-class flyers got different magazines than those in coach. For example, American Way went to the bulk of passengers, while those in American's first and business classes got Celebrated Living. That speaks to another part of the economics of these magazines: advertisers catering to a captive audience. But, again, the advent of Wi-Fi makes people far less captive. Schiller takes note of other cost-cutting moves by airlines, including an infamous one to cut back on olives. "Still, to those flying long enough to remember the genre, the removal of a magazine from a seatback pocket, which bears a sticker reading 'Literature Only,' is indubitably more noticeable than the removal of an olive." Read the full piece. (Or check out other longform recaps.)