The problem here is like I've said many times before, HT only listens to a few people. You could have a poll that said 10000 people wanted something, but if one of the people he listens to didn't want it, then it wouldn't happen. That's what I've told LilMak over and over. His ideas are good but some animals are created more equal then others. Don't hold your breath 
Not holding my breath. Just throwing the idea out there until there is some response (feel free to PM/email/call me Dale and I’ll hold that conversation in confidence if desired). In HT’s defense of ignoring polls and players, there is logic to it. Sometimes what’s good from a player perspective is not good from a game perspective. Someone has to be the adult in the room. I get that. However, we as players/customers do have a voice and many of us have been right about issues in the past. A lot of what HT is trying to address now (ENY/GB and the like) are problems that are, at the least, magnified by AWACS or, at worst, a direct response to it.
Here is what I know as facts.
The air game was objectively better before AWACS. There could be a litany of reasons for this that I don’t have access to or may have missed entirely. But I have listed many times in many different ways how it was subjectively better before.
Players quit because of it. Not one or two. But many. It didn’t happen immediately as a mass exodus but it did happen. It may not have been the only reason but it was cited many times on these message boards as a final straw.
At least one former player has stated pretty recently that they would give the game another a shot if it was reversed and half their squad also quit because of it.
Several players who thought it was a great idea at first have reversed that assessment. Also, many have told me via voice comms that they totally agree that AWACS needs to be addressed. Have I counted? No. But it’s more than a few.
So…
While I might not be one of the people who can bend the ear of HT, I believe I’m an adult in the room when it comes to this one thing which has absolutely hurt the sweet balance this game enjoyed between full blown sim and playability. So I refuse to let it go. I have many other minor grievances with the game but they’re all small potatoes comparatively.