As a frequent flyer, I have already seen this phenomenon. Fewer printed newspapers on board, period.

Not just because some of the airlines have dispensed with passing copies of printed publications (including magazines) to passengers, especially in First and Business class cabins.

You simply do not see many passengers flipping through the pages of a printed publication. Instead, people are glued to their mobile devices before take off, during flight and as soon as the the wheels of the plane hit the ground.

So now Air Canada is contemplating the day when it does not distribute printed newspapers on board anymore. It is not alone. Last year United stopped distributing newspapers on board, citing the obvious: quite simply, people’s reading habits have changed and most of its customers “are already connected when they’re traveling and are consuming news on mobile devices”. United, like Air Canada, is part of the Star Alliance, led by Lufthansa and Swiss, which have already dispensed with the distribution of printed newspapers. Lufthansa and Swiss both keep a rack with selected magazines on board, in their premium cabins. But the flight attendants will not pass down the aisle loaded with printed newspapers anymore.

There is the issue of waste, especially loading up newspapers that are not going to be requested by passengers. So, the airlines encourage passengers to load up their favorite publications prior to boarding, to be read on their mobile devices after take off.

For Air Canada passengers, this option takes them to a FlyerTalk thread highlighting the airlines offer of “thousands of publications at your fingertips” via the PressReader app in its lounges. “Enjoy a publication in the lounge or save your favorites to read offline during your flight. We hope you enjoy your content the greener way,” reads Air Canada’s messaging. Passengers don’t need to be reminded of this, as we see this very familiar scene of passenger connected to a mobile device during flight.

Photo courtesy: Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post

However, while printed newspapers may miss the flight these days, they still are an important part of airline lounges, and it is there, I confess, that I come in contact with such titles as the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Spain’s El Pais, and, occasionally, USA Today.

The in-flight magazines survive

In case you wonder, those in flight magazines that we flip through usually on the last hour of an 11-hour long haul flight, well, they are here to stay. Nobody is talking about dispensing of in flight magazines yet.

A part of print continues to fly the friendly skies.