Lately, ads get more space while fliers get less

If you've flown on US Airways lately, you might have noticed something new has been added. Specifically, ads.

Because tray tables are no longer needed for meal services, the airline is now using them for your reading pleasure. Instead of a hot meal with your beverage of choice, you can enjoy an article by one of BusinessWeek magazine's columnists along with a side of advertisements.

What's more, the column that your seat partner has is different from yours, so when you finish your article, you can read over his shoulder.

This isn't the first attempt at selling space where there isn't any.

Ever since the government deregulated the airlines during the 1970s, the carriers have tried to improve their bottom lines by cutting costs. But they continue to fly in the red.

Now they've found a whole new source of revenue. Instead of selling just tickets, why not sell advertising space?

Every business is looking for a captured audience to target. And if you were among those passengers who spent 10 hours or more sitting in an aircraft without leaving the ground this past year, you know how captured air travelers can be.

"Plane" advertising has been around for some time. Ever since most airlines eliminated magazines from their flights, in-flight magazines and Skymall have been the only reading material for many travelers.

Paper napkins have often carried logos for other products. The entertainment portion of your flight generally contains more advertising than it does television shows or movies. And the exterior of aircraft are often painted to promote sports teams and destinations.

But using the interior of the aircraft is relatively new. The first one I saw use this tactic was Ryanair, the low-cost European carrier that prides itself on its bare-bones service.

The airline has gone so far as to identify window shades as an unnecessary expense and had them removed. No doubt someday the airline will have meters on its lavatories; that is, if it hasn't found a way to sell bathroom seats to paying customers.

But what it has added are advertisements to the back of its drop-down tables. Passengers can read them when their tables are in their full upright position, which means sales pitches are either in your face or pressing into your ribs. And if you're looking for more reading material, you can walk the aisles and read promos on the overhead bins.

But the airlines are missing a few good bets. Bulkheads and lavatories offer untapped billboard space to advertise better places to be than stuck in a middle seat.

Instead of commissioning famous designers to create wardrobes for their flight crews, they could save the money and go for bowling shirts with advertising on the front and back. The pilots could do radio-type spots from the cockpit over the intercom system. And if passengers complain about the visual and oral bombardment of sales pitches, the crew could promote the sale of ear plugs and eye masks to make the flight more comfortable.

In order to get back in the green and remain airborne, the airlines have eliminated staffing and most of their in-flight services. Gone are the hot towels, the hot meals and the clean little doilies on the back of your seat.

But passengers can no longer say "Where's the beef?" because there is a new cash cow on board. Still, it's a bit of an oxymoron that the airlines are selling space on their aircraft to advertisers when their passengers have virtually none.

Gail Todd, a free-lancewriter,worked as a flightattendant for more than 30years. She can be reached viae-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.