Case Study: The Air Current achieves paid memberships and automated subscription management with Memberful

Three takeaways from The Air Current's Jon Ostrower

The Air Current is an independent aviation news site founded by Jon Ostrower after he left CNN in 2018. Facing the challenge of turning a niche readership into a sustainable business while juggling deep, original reporting and the day-to-day operations of a small publication, Jon needed a way to monetize loyal readers and automate administrative tasks so he could focus on content.

He adopted a content-first membership model (priced at $199/yr or $17.99/mo) and automated subscriptions with Memberful integrated into WordPress and Mailchimp, while using Dropbox and Temi to streamline production. The result: a set-it-and-forget-it membership engine that unlocked recurring revenue, kept readers engaged with exclusive, high-quality reporting, and supported expansion efforts like a mirror site in China.

The Air Current

Jon Ostrower

The Air Current