I for one had no issue with various fetch quests or aether flight unlocks

[Govalon]

I've unlocked two zones, both of which by the time I unlocked flying I was done with the zone and moving onto the next area. Pointless.....

You were playing the wrong way. You are supposed to do only those quests that give you aether current and then do the rest when you can fly. You save HOURS in each zone that way and it is much less frustrating because you can just fly over every obstacle.