I forget that most people on this sub are in the lower end of the SBMM bracket. Anyone saying it's hard to hit someone air bending obviously hasn't been beamed by four people using water bending. I have been keeping shockwaves and air bending just to avoid getting third partied so hard.
Playing ranked I carry air bending AND shockwaves.
Air bending is good for getting from a A to B quickly, but as you have said, it is sucks when trying to escape. To escape quickly shockwaves are needed. And even then you sometimes get killed mid air.