Perhaps Not Surprising.
Oh dear. Well, as related earlier in this thread, both of these magazines have been on a converging course for some time. I would posit that in trying to be 'all things to all men' ( & women.) they have both, in many ways, left behind their original readerships. FP was always the more populist publication. AM has very much lost it's way. Style over substance incarnate. If they merge, it'll be a tragedy that ironically mirrors, in a small way, what has happened to British aviation generally since the war.
I'd have loved to have seen AM return to it's roots and become more 'hardcore' again.
I simply cannot envisage KP keeping two now effectively identical monthly glossy mags going. Whilst AM is not really the same mag as the pre-war weekly, it nonethless has genuine heritage right back to the birth of aviation. To see it subsumed will be a tragedy. FP is 'just' a frothy glossy, like a bus, there'll be another one along in a minute. I can't imagine commercial publishing houses give a toss about any of this, they are just concerned with making a buck and neutralising competition, even if that means a short-term loss.
That's the beauty of the Air Britain organisation, it's basically run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. I wonder how much AM was sold for.....?