America West will being installing advertising on tray tables beginning December 15. I think this is a new low for the airline industry.
Read about it here.

[This message has been edited by whiteknuckles (edited Dec 10, 2003).]

What makes this a New Low?

I actually think this is very smart... you have a captive audience... take advantage of it.

I am glad to see they are looking for innovative ways to bring in revenue.

William

Now the airlines who allow advertising on their tray tables will have a real financial incentive to clean these tray tables as spotlessly as possible before each flight.

Oddly, I'm don't feel any outrage about tray-table ads. Part of me is a bit annoyed that they'd do it, but another part of me is saying "Why didn't I think of that?!"

Perhaps the reason it doesn't bother me so much is that there are so many other invasive, offensive forms of advertising out there that directly and negatively affect me (e-mail spam, telemarketing, pop-up ads, deceitful sales practices, etc.).

As long as the tray table ads don't impede my process of using the tray, my reaction is merely "Geez, these freaking credit card ads are everywhere" - annoyance but not rage.

Look on the positive side: it's one way the airlines can raise revenue without ripping yet another benefit from their most frequent customers.

This is highly inappropriate. I'm paying for the service of flight, not for ads to be stuffed in my face through out the flight.

If the flight was free, sure, they can put the ads there. But it's on my dollar, so why do I need to be subject to this crap?

The nasties part is that America West doesn't serve ANY food on those tray table.

It would be better if they would at least serve meals on sponsored flights, something like "This snack is brought to you by IBM" .

The way it looks right now, I don't think many passengers would even have a reason to open their tray tables.

What I'm really afraid of, is that the advertising is going to be on the tray bottom. The ad will be staring you in the facing even if it's closed.

That would be pretty annoying, and I'd take delight in marking up the ads with permanent markers.

Anyone see Minority Report...

Advertising will soon be as intrusive as it was in that movie...

I guess... we should just "deal" with it.

[This message has been edited by slippahs (edited Dec 10, 2003).]

Ha! Can't wait to see some of the graffiti, mutilation, and spontaneous "feedback" that the ads will receive.

What's so new about this?

Ryanair was doing it three years ago.

There is a lot of precedent in local tranportation, anyway. Busses, subways, and taxis are all things we pay for and still have advertising, both inside and out in some cases.

The scary thing is that there is no reason for them to stop at tray tables. Inside and out of the overheads, the inside lav door, the cups they serve drinks in, there is almost no end of where this could lead.

While I generally agree, technically the same scenario can be said for mass transportation such as buses and trains, although those modes of transportation cost passengers thousands of dollars less.

One thing the airlines and mass transportation generally have in common:

Both have been partially subsidized in one way or another by tax dollars...

Will America West be giving me a free flight and pay 1 GBP of my taxes for me?

I've never understood how Ryanair and EasyJet can operate successfully while no US carrier can handle that business model.

Every time I see a NY subway train that is pasted from top to bottom with ads, it makes me sick. I wonder how New Yorkers can live with what amounts to paid graffiti every day in their transport system.
I'm so glad I don't live in New York.

I'm glad I don't fly HP.

But if I did, I'd be sure to bring along something no male traveler should be without, duct tape.