It has its uses but having a party member as a target do suck. A major issue I see is that you have to wait for your party members to position correctly before using the skill. You risk moving at the last second with the hope that your party members move correctly. This makes the skill more in-line to being a "oh shit" button rather than something that you constantly use to move.

Given that aetherial manipulation is a level 50 skill, changing it to something more useful is reasonable.