Phil Plait is rightly angry with American Airlines for putting an interview with an anti-vaccination liar in the July and August editions of their in-flight magazine and on-board TV service. This is dangerous propaganda, but AA has dismissed criticisms via Twitter: “This program is produced by a third party and opinions expressed don’t represent AA opinions or position. Listening is optional.”
That’s nonsense. It’s their branded magazine and entertainment service, so someone in-house is approving its contents. Editors make choices every day about what to include and what to exclude, and this anti-science garbage should have been tossed back onto the trash heap from which it emanated.
There’s an online petition asking American Airlines to cancel the anti-vaccination message here.
Updated 8:25pm…
Victory! A couple of hours ago, Phil reported that he had received a tweet from American Airlines saying, “This interview has not been submitted to AA yet. We have decided not to air this audio & thank those who shared their opinions.” When he asked on Twitter about the printed version, they replied almost immediately, “It will not be included in any printed material as well.”