At 30,000 Feet, Finding a Captive Audience for Advertising

New York Times, August 27, 2007 — “Please return your seatbacks and tray tables to their upright and locked position — and start reading the advertisement that is staring you in the face.” O.K., you won’t actually hear that last part as the flight attendants prepare an aircraft for landing. But as airlines look for new sources of revenue to offset rising fuel costs, more carriers are turning planes into marketing vehicles, installing advertising in hard-to-miss places.