Recently my husband and I vacationed to Mexico. Having not been on an airplane in more than a year, I was shocked at the amount of advertising all around me, sky high at 30,000 feet. On the news almost every day we’ve been hearing stories about airlines charging extra for baggage, merging airlines and new rules and regulations inconveniencing passengers – clearly the airline industry is hurting and they are looking for new sources of revenue. These days it is the norm for airlines to sell advertising space on the interior and exterior of the plane, installing ads in hard-to-miss places. I read that US Airways said that it can raise about $20 million annually from all of its in-flight advertising – wow!

On all four of our flights, I noticed there were ads on the tray tables, a totally new concept to me. I had heard that airlines were advertising on tray tables, but never before had I seen them in-flight. On flights longer than one hour, 9 out of 10 passengers use their tray tables for 15 minutes or longer and if you are my husband, the tray table is down for nearly the entire flight with the ads just staring him down. According to research by Triad Consulting Group, 92 percent of airline passengers were able to recall in-flight ads after their flight. Companies from Mercedes-Benz, Kenneth Cole, The History Channel to Verizon have recently utilized airline tray table advertising. After all, we are a captive audience, exposed to in-flight ads for hours at a time while up in the air.

(Courtesy of TheDailyAnchor.com)

(Courtesy Flickr.com/always-summer)

(Courtesy Flickr.com/Chris Cashdollar)

In-flight advertising is not new, however until now, passengers used to be able to easily turn their heads from the ad on the screen or quickly turn the page of their in-flight magazine if they wanted to avoid ads. These days, not only do airline carriers sell ad space on the interior and exterior of tray tables and seatbacks, but they have also turned the exterior of planes into flying billboards, overhead luggage compartments into oversized ads, sold ad space on napkins and during in-flight entertainment. I read that some airlines have even experimented with ads printed on the outside of the airsick bags. I would think that the airsick bag advertising wouldn’t be as effective as others. I can’t imagine getting sick on a plane and feeling well enough to read the ad on the side of the bag and then be able to recall what the ad was for! To me, advertising on airsick bags is like saying our product is only as good as what’s in this bag.

(Courtesy: ThePeopleBrand.com)

Ryanair, a European low-cost carrier, sells ad space on planes as a way to offer marketers an effective way to reach consumers who have cash to spend and who are increasingly difficult to influence via traditional media like television and newspapers. Ryanair is one of the airlines that sells the space on the overhead compartments.

(Courtesy of Eventective.com)

On our flights not only were there advertisements on our tray tables and on napkins, but the flight attendants were pitching their rewards program credit card to passengers. Over the static and fading in and out of the intercom, we had to listen to the attendants hard sell the airline program and credit card while the other attendants walked up and down the aisle handing out applications. The only way I could avoid the sales pitch was by closing my eyes and turning my MP3 player on with the volume high.

When I fly I like to use the opportunity to relax and unwind – it is the only time travelling when I don’t have to answer my cell phone, check emails, talk to anyone or really do anything. The last thing I want to see are advertisements shouting in my face. What I will tell you however, is that I would rather see the airlines make up lost revenue by selling advertising anywhere in-flight than increasing already expensive airfare.