American Airlines Partners with Ink to Relaunch Collection of Inflight Magazines

American Airlines will outsource the publication and advertising sales of its inflight magazine titles to London-based Ink Global, which will relaunch American Way in January 2015.

The inflight magazine tucked into the seat pocket — the one with the crossword half filled out by a previous passenger — might not look like much, but titles like Hemispheres, American Way, Southwest Spirit and Delta Sky are big business. While print media as a whole is struggling for readership and advertising revenue, inflight magazines reach the very definition of a captive audience.

American Way, American Airline’s primary inflight offering, is available to more than 193 million passengers every year. On Tuesday, the airline announced an agreement with Ink Global that will help it take better advantage of a readership that is the envy of traditional publications.

In a statement making the partnership public, Ink’s Global Head of Sales Simon Leslie explained the unique position inflight magazines hold. “The U.S. passenger base every year is nearly the equivalent of six Super Bowls,” Leslie said. “As people get on a plane, they sit back, relax and get away from the distractions of life. It is a great environment for finding inspiration for that next important purchase, or even to start planning for their next exciting travel adventure.”

While inflight magazines like Continental, US Airways Magazine and AirTran’s GO are falling victim to airline mergers, American Way’s circulation and position in the industry has only been strengthened. It is hoped that the magazine’s place in the seat backs of the world’s largest airline will translate into increased advertising revenue for both Ink and American.

American Vice President Fernand Fernandez expects just that. “We believe Ink brings added resources, coupled with a strong global reputation which will help strengthen our three award-winning titles going forward,” Fernandez said in the statement announcing the airline’s partnership with Ink.

Ink will redesign and relaunch American Way, as well as American’s Celebrated Living, a magazine for first- and business-class passengers, and Nexos, a Spanish and Portuguese language magazine offered on Latin American flights.

Ink will keep the current American Way editor, Adam Pitluk, onboard for the relaunch. Pitluk explained his vision for the re-imagined American Way to the International Business Times. “If somebody wants to know about the best boat drinks in Belize, we’ve got them covered, but if they’re looking for a story about some international business trends, they know that they could come to us too,” Pitluk said. “Ink realizes that. If you only write about travel for leisure, you alienate a certain segment of your readership.”

[Photo: American Way]