That's all well and good, but you're going on a completely different issue.
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Airships were planned from 1.0 but were never implemented. Unsure of the content involved with them but from what I can recall it will be a group crafting event. They had another thing that was shown waaay back for cooks where they all helped build a giant cake. Regarding the FC airships, there was also random landing/launching towers across 1.0's landscape. They have also eluded to special FATE events to liven up airship travel and sea travel. There is a grand vision for this game. It's coming in stages so we either need to be patient or leave and come back later on.
I see where you are coming from. I too wanted to be useful crafting weapons and armors but now find it useless beyond attaching materia or repairs. This will come as they add in more content. They are far from finished. Don't panic!
They have only scratched the surface of endgame which is where we were told "the true game begins" as it stands today, sure it may seem lacking but we know there is much more coming. Golden Saucer, Hard mode dungeons, Side stories, bonus content, PvP, Housing, and so on. Sure gear might be easy right now but It wont stay that way. I don't see many people whit full Allagan gear yet. The only reason you would have to be concerned with the direction of the game is if you assumed that this is all we will ever get. But the nature of the MMO genre means it is never finished.