American Airlines pilots will finally be able to offer airplane trading cards to passengers, though it’s proving to be a bit controversial.
It seems the general popularity of airplane trading cards has increased massively in recent times, perhaps thanks to social media, and the number of people posting online about them. For example, while Delta has had trading cards going as far back as 2003, the number of times they’re being requested has hugely increased.
Heck, Spirit even recently invested in rolling out trading cards, to give you a sense of how this is being viewed as non-negotiable by some airlines.
The APA describes this initiative as being intended to “enhance the experience of our passengers,” and there are at least four types of cards, covering different planes in the fleet. The cards have union branding, rather than airline branding (though they do show pictures of aircraft in their full liveries). Of course it’ll be up to pilots to actually pick these up from bases and bring them onboard, to distribute to passengers.
Now, I can’t help but be curious if there’s a QR code on the back of these cards leading to a certain website, as one wonders what the real motive here is. 😉 We have seen American’s pilot union be (understandably) very frustrated with management, and they’ve promised to take their displeasure “to all American stakeholders.” Could this be part of that plan?
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
