I see it as adding a layer of fog into the war. Sure people would be upset from time to time, but this would be weighed against the chance to actually do more with perks. Besides, there are a lot of players that would jump at the chance to have new excuses as to why they suck.
I was thinking of a system wherein after a certain number of sorties the planes a player receive are of lower quality unless they pay for maintenance and upkeep but this would be even more unpopular. Of course, I'm partial to the idea that players recieve negative perks if they fail to bring their planes back to the base.
Anyhow, I'd like to see more done with perks and as much as ground crews were praised in RL, they get nadda in game.