One of the things that struck this Cheapflights’ reporter the first time he flew Alaska Airlines was a simple gesture. There, on the meal tray in front of me was a prayer card, replete with an Old Testament reading set against a printed skyscape.

Two sides of me responded simultaneously: the spiritual, and the reportorial. The first said, ‘How lovely. That’s nice.’ The card made me think, made me thankful for the meal I was about to eat at 35,000 feet. The practical, reportorial side had never before seen such a thing served up on a public conveyance. The journalist in me immediately screamed, ‘Someone’s going to be offended by this. It will never last.’

But it did, for some 30 years it lasted – until the culture wars finally invaded the precincts of the airplane tray table and Alaska decided to remove the messages from its airplanes.

Alaska has been wrestling with this issue for years now. Initially, many passengers loved the passages. But that was 20 or 30 years ago. In recent times the feedback’s shifted. Of late it’s reflected those who believe airlines flat out have no business trying to feed the flying public religion of any persuasion with their daily bread. While some fliers continued to be comforted by the cards, others felt the religious reflections were intrinsically inappropriate.

It’s first class fliers who’ve been served those passages with their meals in recent years. Like most airlines, Alaska stopped serving full-fledged meals in the back of the airplane a while ago. Still, the controversy continued unabated.

And so it is that the airline with the smiling Eskimo on the tail of its jets decided to remove the offending contemplative cards effective Feb. 1. In an e-mail to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan frequent fliers CEO Bill Ayer and President Brad Tilden wrote, “Religious beliefs are deeply personal and sharing them with others is an individual choice.”

Pray tell, what’s your choice? Do you applaud Alaska’s decision, or deride it?

Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: peasap)