I do not think we should have personal flying machines (also there weren't any in the intro - are you referring to the viewpoint character at one point standing on the balcony of one of those flight-capable Garlean walkers? 'Cause those things I'm pretty sure are crewed by two or three people).
What I do think we should have are airships under our own control, with an eye to modification and combat systems down the line. But solo-flight systems are just.. meh. They take away more than they add, in my opinion.