Flight International for better or for worse?
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Flight International for better or for worse?
Maybe its just me and im sure some of you will disagree. But has Flight International become both boring and bad value for money?
I remember the days when I would beat a path to my newsagents every wednesday to get the latest AIRLINE news and jobs from a much thicker lump of paper.
Now for £2.40 I get a wafer thin rag that sheds little light on whats happening with the airlines and gives less than one page to letters from its loyal readers. And they have reduced the quality of the paper on which it is printed.
FI quotes that they have over 300,000 readers, the vast majority of which I'm sure are pilots. So why don't they cater for the majority and leave the space and defence to more appropiate titles or at least cut down and cover more commercial pilot related topics.
I get more info once a month from the glossy yet informative Ailiner World magazine than four issues of Flight which I only buy now for the jobs section.
Anyone miss the old Flight or is it just me?
I remember the days when I would beat a path to my newsagents every wednesday to get the latest AIRLINE news and jobs from a much thicker lump of paper.
Now for £2.40 I get a wafer thin rag that sheds little light on whats happening with the airlines and gives less than one page to letters from its loyal readers. And they have reduced the quality of the paper on which it is printed.
FI quotes that they have over 300,000 readers, the vast majority of which I'm sure are pilots. So why don't they cater for the majority and leave the space and defence to more appropiate titles or at least cut down and cover more commercial pilot related topics.
I get more info once a month from the glossy yet informative Ailiner World magazine than four issues of Flight which I only buy now for the jobs section.
Anyone miss the old Flight or is it just me?
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Can't agree with you more! I think the only reason why Flight is still circulating is because of the aircrew notices in the classified section!
I personally think that airliner world is far better, especially the special issues like the latest one on the Airbus family!
I personally think that airliner world is far better, especially the special issues like the latest one on the Airbus family!
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Flaps to60...
After 20 odd years I too have let my subscription lapse for exactly the reasons you've mentioned.
Skyport (free and out today BTW) offers more "airline news" and the best place for jobs, or at least early news of them, is right here, at PPruNe.
Rgds BEX
After 20 odd years I too have let my subscription lapse for exactly the reasons you've mentioned.
Skyport (free and out today BTW) offers more "airline news" and the best place for jobs, or at least early news of them, is right here, at PPruNe.
Rgds BEX
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It may be a bit boring but I agree as well.
Why not change it to once a fortnight, get rid of space and defence, and reduce it's price to an affordable £1.50?
I know they would sell more copies, which would then generate more advertising revenue.
Why not change it to once a fortnight, get rid of space and defence, and reduce it's price to an affordable £1.50?
I know they would sell more copies, which would then generate more advertising revenue.
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I always thought it was an oddly placed magazine. Although the market is flooded with mags of all descriptions, I'm sure there is room for an international pro pilots twice monthly rag with features that matter to us, advertising that targets pilots (pensions/cars/property etc rather than Ariane rockets).
August is traditionally a slim month, but the latest issue is shameful.
Rod
August is traditionally a slim month, but the latest issue is shameful.
Rod
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QUOTE
FI quotes that they have over 300,000 readers, the vast majority of which I'm sure are pilots. So why don't they cater for the majority and leave the space and defence to more appropiate titles or at least cut down and cover more commercial pilot related topics.
UNQUOTE
Why do you assume that Flight International is solely directed at pilots and they're the largest reader group. There's a vast number of aviation profesionals who aren't pilots which have both a personal and business interest in the wide range of articles the FI publishes.
Do pilots really think they're the only audience for aviation news?
FI quotes that they have over 300,000 readers, the vast majority of which I'm sure are pilots. So why don't they cater for the majority and leave the space and defence to more appropiate titles or at least cut down and cover more commercial pilot related topics.
UNQUOTE
Why do you assume that Flight International is solely directed at pilots and they're the largest reader group. There's a vast number of aviation profesionals who aren't pilots which have both a personal and business interest in the wide range of articles the FI publishes.
Do pilots really think they're the only audience for aviation news?
short flights long nights
Yes I wont be renewing either
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FlightPlanMan,
On a scale from 1 - 10 (10 being top) I give you an 8 for your comment.
Having said that, FI must be the only magazine I start reading from the back page. I admit that the classified section is the most interesting with FI. And since Ariane rockets are way down on my list, may be I should drop FI and go for aviationjobs.com.
On a scale from 1 - 10 (10 being top) I give you an 8 for your comment.
Having said that, FI must be the only magazine I start reading from the back page. I admit that the classified section is the most interesting with FI. And since Ariane rockets are way down on my list, may be I should drop FI and go for aviationjobs.com.
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I too have been very disapointed with the last 3 or 4 editions of FI. I wouldnt say they are thin, more like anorexic!!
Some of the other mags are good, but the problem is that when something big is on, they all cover it, and then do so for at least 3 months take for example the paris airshow!
David Learmount is a member of this board, maybe he could comment on what has happened with FI in the past few years.
P.S. Where do I get a copy of Skyport?
Some of the other mags are good, but the problem is that when something big is on, they all cover it, and then do so for at least 3 months take for example the paris airshow!
David Learmount is a member of this board, maybe he could comment on what has happened with FI in the past few years.
P.S. Where do I get a copy of Skyport?
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Have to say I won`t be renewing my subs next time around. When it fails to show up I dont miss it, when it does I`m done with it in about three minutes. Interestingly I found a 1968 copy for 20p recently with a review of the new Jetstream 31, and have been reading it for weeks. It feels as though it was written by genuine aviation enthusiasts and not post grad buisness majors with a very minor in commercial journalism. The new format stinks but pales in comparison to the content. FI have indeed lost the plot.
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Have to say that I think flaps to 60 has a very valid point. For many years I had a subscription to ‘Aviation Week and Space Technology’, but dropped that in favour of ‘Flight’ because it was concentrating far too much (for my taste) on rocketry, space exploration etc rather than aeroplanes – sorry ‘airplanes’.
Now FI is going very much the same way. I seriously considered not renewing my subscription last time and think things will have to have changed rather dramatically for me to pay up next time.
It might have been that I was preoccupied at the time, but I scanned the last issue in a matter of minutes and didn’t find an article that I read beyond the first couple of paragraphs.
(I still always start at the back page though. It’s almost a ‘secret handshake’ in a newsagent, isn’t it? [“Ahh, another pilot!”])
Now FI is going very much the same way. I seriously considered not renewing my subscription last time and think things will have to have changed rather dramatically for me to pay up next time.
It might have been that I was preoccupied at the time, but I scanned the last issue in a matter of minutes and didn’t find an article that I read beyond the first couple of paragraphs.
(I still always start at the back page though. It’s almost a ‘secret handshake’ in a newsagent, isn’t it? [“Ahh, another pilot!”])
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It seems that I'm not the only one who feels sick paying the cost of an overpriced pint, for something that a few of you have commented "takes a few minutes to read".
Even if (FlightPlanMan) in the unlikely event that the majority of readers are not pilots then they should stick to AEROPLANES and thier associated industries and not what the Hubble telescope is looking at or which missles are being developed.
Out of the sixty pages in this weeks issue over 25% are adverts which leaves less than 45 pages for "News".
And of those 45, 7 are on defence and space plus another 2 on the Balkans!!!!!!
I can go on but what it boils down to is about 1/2 a page useful to me.
Would someone at FI like to wheel out David Learmont from his "Brake In Emergency" glass box and have him answer the comments from the people who put the clothes on his back.
Even if (FlightPlanMan) in the unlikely event that the majority of readers are not pilots then they should stick to AEROPLANES and thier associated industries and not what the Hubble telescope is looking at or which missles are being developed.
Out of the sixty pages in this weeks issue over 25% are adverts which leaves less than 45 pages for "News".
And of those 45, 7 are on defence and space plus another 2 on the Balkans!!!!!!
I can go on but what it boils down to is about 1/2 a page useful to me.
Would someone at FI like to wheel out David Learmont from his "Brake In Emergency" glass box and have him answer the comments from the people who put the clothes on his back.
Keeping Danny in Sandwiches
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The trick is to buy Flight on a three year subscription (about £120 for Balpa Members - from memory)and share it with your mates - costs about 25p a week; about what it's worth.
Anyone remember Aeroplane? It was taken over by Flight in 1968 that was a proper Civil Aviation Magazine.
If Danny put a link to his own Job Site he would really clean up. Make Flight wake up - or buy up!!
Anyone remember Aeroplane? It was taken over by Flight in 1968 that was a proper Civil Aviation Magazine.
If Danny put a link to his own Job Site he would really clean up. Make Flight wake up - or buy up!!
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The description "Thin" somes "Flight" up perfectly.
Its thin on information for airline pilots and thin on thickness.
S'funny that I have been quietly moaning about it for months, but thought it was just my opinion. I certainly won't be renewing my sub when it expires,
Its thin on information for airline pilots and thin on thickness.
S'funny that I have been quietly moaning about it for months, but thought it was just my opinion. I certainly won't be renewing my sub when it expires,
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I think that EDDNR hit it on the head regarding the advetising. Is the target market a limited number like Sadam Hussein, or is it everyday people in the aircraft industry?
Once they get their marketing scheme going again in their advertising department toward their everyday target audience, then they will be able to afford more coverage of events and make the magazine slick again -- and probably more informative.
Once they get their marketing scheme going again in their advertising department toward their everyday target audience, then they will be able to afford more coverage of events and make the magazine slick again -- and probably more informative.
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Fellow disgruntled readers
I have just e:mailed this thread and the following message to Murdo Morrison the editor of FI.
Mr. Morrison
I thought you might be interested in reading this web page:
You might like to reply to your obviously disgruntled readers and explain why FI is now an expensive joke.
please answer the following.
1) How do you justify such an expensive price for 45 pages of dubious quality reporting?
2) Why has the quality of the paper used been reduced to toilet paper yet the price increase?
3) Why are you now reporting on what appears to be everything except you once core subject?
4) Why must the letters you receive which I'm sure must be in the thousands only get one page (sometimes less)?
5) How many pilots write for you on a regular basis instead of "journalist"?
6) Why should I bother to buy Flight International anymore?
Hopefully this will start the return to the good old days and I can walk expectantly to my newsagents once again
I have just e:mailed this thread and the following message to Murdo Morrison the editor of FI.
Mr. Morrison
I thought you might be interested in reading this web page:
You might like to reply to your obviously disgruntled readers and explain why FI is now an expensive joke.
please answer the following.
1) How do you justify such an expensive price for 45 pages of dubious quality reporting?
2) Why has the quality of the paper used been reduced to toilet paper yet the price increase?
3) Why are you now reporting on what appears to be everything except you once core subject?
4) Why must the letters you receive which I'm sure must be in the thousands only get one page (sometimes less)?
5) How many pilots write for you on a regular basis instead of "journalist"?
6) Why should I bother to buy Flight International anymore?
Hopefully this will start the return to the good old days and I can walk expectantly to my newsagents once again