SkyMall (the inflight shopping catalog) parent firm Xhibit Corp has filed for federal bankruptcy court protection in Phoenix on Friday,
With increased use of electronic devices on planes and the increase in the number of air carriers providing Internet access, Skymall’s business has dwindled.
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It would be a shame if they went out of business. I’ve always found looking at their catalog of things I can live without, but which are highly entertaining, make a long flight pass by.
Sorry, DrF, but they ARE gone. The name and remaining assets will be auctioned, and there’s a fair chance a website under that name will survive, but the paper version in the seatback is doomed.
Here’s why.
First, from the airline point of view, the small fees received from SkyMall no longer match the cost of having cabin and ground crew maintain the placement. That’s why Delta stopped placing it a few months ago, and others seemed poised to follow.
Second, SkyMall only looks like a catalog. It’s actually a content-free magazine whose advertisers buy space. They get exposure, a conduit for handling orders—and lately not enough orders to keep paying those bucks.
I used to read it regularly to help stretch my on-board reading material; I even ordered something from it…once. But with a Kindle to pack lots of reading in one small space…