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Exactly, the author was not an academic, which at the very least means they are "putting on airs".

Is it possible that it still counts as "putting on airs" even when done by academics?

I had a long stint in academics as both a student and as research staff, and I noticed many instances of unchallenged self-aggrandizement within that community. I could easily believe this to be another instance of that, even if institutionalized.

Edit: FWIW I haven't looked into this history of this particular topic. There may a respectable explanation and I'm just ignorant.

In general this is done out of an appreciation that no work exists in a vacuum. "We", takes away from the individual and attributes the work to a group of people, even if they are not coauthors. I actually think this is one of the better conventions in academia.

Well it is also worth mentioning, the "we" can be used as a way to give a paper a conversational tone whilst still remaining formal. The "we" in that kind of case is the other domain experts reading the paper the author is assuming they are speaking to.

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