Fly Like an Eagle
The other day a friend of mine asked what advice I had for breaking into airline magazines. My experience with them unfortunately yields not-very-helpful advice: meet somebody who is an editor at an airline mag and hope that they offer you a few assignments.
For those seeking something a little more practical, I spoke to a handful of experienced travel writers for their advice on breaking into those airborne glossies.
“Pitching inflights is the same as pitching any other magazine, in that you should take the time to familiarize yourself with the magazine’s content before you just go randomly sending story ideas in,” says Jill Becker, who has contributed to American Way. “In fact, it’s probably even more important to hit the mark as close as possible your first time out when pitching inflights, because they generally have very small staffs and editors there typically don’t have time to “work with” and “forge relationships” with writers. They’re looking for writers who can get it right pretty much the first time.”
Also like other magazines, “Study the magazine and see what the smaller,shorter, FOB and other less feature-y sections look like,” says Ethan Gilsdorf, who teaches Breaking Into Travel Writing for mb. “It’s going to be harder to land a big assignment. In this regard, they are like other magazines — start small, go from there.” However, Joanne Bamberger, who has written for Go, AirTran’s inflight, has another way of looking at that: “I’ve always tried to aim for the features well and so far it’s worked for me. Why not aim high?”
“You also need to be as specific and topical as possible when pitching inflights,” says Becker. “When I was at American Way, I can’t tell you how many queries I got that just said things like, “I’d like to do a story on London” or “I’m going to Phoenix next weekend, do you need anything from there?” that went directly into the trash. You need to tell them why they should assign you a story about London or Phoenix right now and what you’re going to deliver to their readers about those places that can’t be found in every other guidebook.
“In my experience, I have had to very carefully craft my pitches, even after having an established relationship with the editors,” agrees Bamberger. “One thing that has worked for me is to try to pitch them stories that I think I can uniquely provide for them. So I try to establish a contact for a story, say for business profiles, and then craft a pitch that says I have already gotten an agreement from the subject to be interviewed. That way, the editors know that I will be able to deliver the interview and won’t have to worry about whether the person will talk, especially if they are celebrities.”
Inflights also don’t have some of the flexibility that other magazines do (they represent the airline after all), so you’re not going to want to pitch them a story on how Acapulco is so out now but Cabo is in (inflights’ travel stories are intended to get people to go places, not NOT go to places), and you’re not going to want to suggest a piece on something like porn sites as big business or a debate on the death penalty (inflight content is generally pretty conservative). Consider the timing of your idea, too. Most Inflights have long lead times, so don’t call up saying, “I’d like to pitch a story about going to Vienna for Christmas” on December 1st. Think at least one season ahead.”
“Another thing to remember is that a lot of inflights don’t have the same budgets that other travel magazines have,” says Becker. “So don’t expect the entire tab for your trip to be picked up by the magazine. It’s ironic, but in many cases, you won’t even get your airfare taken care of. (American Way has to pay parent company American Airlines a fee, albeit at discounted prices, for whatever tickets they use to fly writers around.)
Use common sense when you pitch airline mags. “The most important thing to remember about pitching travel stories to inflights is that you should never, ever pitch them a story on a destination their airline does not fly to or that isn’t within easy driving distance to,” says Becker. “So while it’d be okay to pitch Southwest Airlines’ inflight a story on Miami (they fly to Ft. Lauderdale), don’t dare pitch them a story on Fargo (they don’t fly anywhere near North Dakota). Your idea will immediately be tossed and any chance you had of ever working with them will be doomed forever.”
“Also, be tuned in to the type of traveler the airline is most focused on,” advises Bamberger. “Is it a smaller carrier that focuses on the business traveler? If so, pitching a piece on a family destination spot may not work.”
Finally, keep your horizons broad (no travel-pun intended.) “Keep in mind that a lot of inflight magazines don’t consider themselves just travel magazines, but rather general interest magazines with an emphasis on travel,” says Becker. “For several years when I worked at American Way, the magazine was literally divided up into three main categories: travel, lifestyle, and business. So there are opportunities to write about plenty of other things besides travel for inflights. In fact, it’s probably harder to break into an inflight with a travel story than it is anything else.”
Also, “Try to think outside the box,” says Bamberger. “Sometimes these magazines are looking to revamp and add new features. I landed a regular column gig at AirTran’s in-flight magazine, Go, because on a whim I sent my editor the link to my blog, which I use to work on my column-style writing. I wasn’t aware at the time, but he was looking for someone to write a family-oriented travel column and offered me the spot. Now I’m a regular columnist! Don’t be afraid to suggest a new idea to an editor you have an established relationship with.”
Most of all, be patient. “Threading the eye of the needle is what pitching in-flight magazines reminds me of as a writer. Between the parent company mandate, the geographical limits of their route maps, and personal preferences ranging from everything offbeat (enRoute Magazine), to nothing offbeat (Continental), in-flights are the ultimate freelancer’s challenge,” says Gregory Gallagher, whose writing has appeared in American Airlines’ Latitudes Magazine. To score an assignment, it would behoove hungry writers to pull out all the stops and think Cirque du Soleil. The sheer volume of queries landing upon editors’ desks makes it almost physically impossible to deal with even the best ideas. There are just too many to handle, so you better stand up and sing a song, dance a jig, or somehow attract significant attention from the others.
“I researched one in-flight for a good six months before I was able to find the editor’s telephone number and then I cold called her. This method is not for the faint of heart and the first few minutes gave me a head-start in the white hair department. But I hung in there beyond the awkward silences, and suddenly I detected a softening of the voice at the other end of the line. Before the end of that call I had my first in-flight assignment.
“I continue to approach a number of in-flight publications who have been either non-responsive or negative over long periods of time. I know the masthead changes fairly often, so as a freelancer my odds bounce to new beginnings with each magazine’s metamorphosis.”
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