Is Skymall Crashing ? Iconic Catalog Files For Bankruptcy

For me the most enjoyable part of any airplane ride is getting off the plane. The second most enjoyable thing is probably the mind numbing hours spent thumbing through the inflight publication known as Skymall. It's a collection of quirky items that most of us would never need but somehow at 30-thousand feet above the ground you can rationalize a reason to want.

The Skymall Catalog, paper edition, may be no more. Or it could be reinvigorated if new ownership emerges. The publication which is part of the online advertising firm Xhibit has seen declining sales over the past few years. Most analyst blame the decline on inflight Wi-Fi and the internet in general. Where once Skymall was the only place most people ever came across the opportunity to own a life sized Bigfoot garden statue, there are now countless websites offering to sell the same merchandise.

I personally have never purchased any item from Skymall. I do look at the publication when I am on an airplane that carries it though. However it looks like my days of page flipping might be coming to an end as Delta Airlines had already announced it was ending its contract with Skymall last year. Southwest Airlines has also indicated it will no longer offer a spot in the seat back pouch for Skymall this year.

I guess it's just a sign of the times. There was once a great air of excitement around my childhood home when the Sears Wishbook arrived. That catalog is now a whisper of what it once used to be. I supposed Skymall is going the way of most of the catalogs I once found intriguing. Since we can all get it now on the internet and on our phones why do we need the paper version any longer.

If this is the end of Skymall then so be it. They had a pretty good run and I am sure the individuals that work in that company will come up with a bigger and better idea. At least I hope they do. Because I believe the self cleaning cat box, the zombie in the ground garden statue, and the remote controlled spider still need a method to get into the minds of consumers who find themselves stuck without peanuts in a tube full of overpriced lukewarm beer and overpriced cocktails.