I'm not all for that.
What I think will possibly happen is you will get folks that wont log into the arena because they wont see anybody they want to fly with.
There is more of a chance of the same person going ahead and upping a plane when they dont see anybody they know once they are logged on.
I speak somewhat from experience on this because at one time before other problems with the game, I used to play alot of Jumpgate and the game does have a pilot roster that can be viewed online. Overtime some folks argued that being able to see who all was online often times discouraged subscribers from logging on because of the online numbers being down and not seeing who they wanted to fly with being on. Hell I didnt log on sometimes because I didnt see any squaddies on.
The devs did move the online number counter to an area that it wouldnt have been as easily seen. Numbers did seem to come up some, but like I mentioned there were other problems.
I'm not saying it will happen here like that, but some hindsight has creeped in. Also keep in mind I'd like to see that same function, but experience with something similar has shown me that I'd rather error on the side of caution and live without.