• San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, May 30, 2007 10:30 AM

Columns by wine expert Robert Parker and Jack and Suzy Welch will soon be laminated onto airplane pull-down tables as part of a new effort to put ads on US Airways planes. Reprints from BusinessWeek, the columns will change monthly and share space with advertising.

America West, which merged with US Airways in 2005, has had tray-table ads for four years, but had not yet paired them with content. The deal was brokered by Brand Connections, which has data showing passengers better remember the ads when accompanied by editorial.

"We are in the airline business, not the advertising business," says US Airways media relations manager Morgan Durrant, who declines to disclose how much the carrier is charging. "Revenue is peripheral, but is significant enough to keep rising costs (like fuel) in check."

The ads will "reach business executives during the rare occasion when they are detached from their PDAs, cell phones and offices," according to Brand Connections.

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