rocketman2000
I do wish more mfgs would include them, at least for fighter aircraft or any aircraft that has an easily viewed cockpit. I do occasionally do an inflight display, and have to go find aftermarket figures. This is especially true if the kit instructions show way to display it with gear up.
Back in the day, it was practically a given that airplane and armor kits would include at least one figure. Some car model companies included some, too, especially Revell, in its older kits. Revell included some figures in one or two of its sailing ship kits, too, like Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind or the Mayflower.
When I got back into modeling around '99 after my hiatus, I was surprised to see how quickly figures had disappeared from most manufacturers' kits. And I noticed how figures had become an aftermarket item. I remember discussing this with other modelers back then, and since. A common observation people offered was that companies stopped adding figures as fewer and fewer modelers did anything with them. It makes sense; if the potential customer doesn't want the figure, then why spend the resources to produce it and include it in the kit. Especially if there are aftermarket suppliers who are willing to cover that market.
Some modelers will say that after they spent all that time and effort detailing an interior, like a cockpit, they don't want to add a figure to it and hide it from view.
Also, I think many are daunted by the pictures they see (and saw back then, too) and think, subconsciously, that if they can't turn out a figure like Shep Paine, or Mike Blank, or any of the other Grand Masters on the figure circuit do, they won't bother at all.
It's interesting to see how so many modelers who have the skills to turn out a beautiful model, will balk at painting a figure. They've got the skills, obviously, but there's a mental hurdle for so many.
I think a figure gives the viewer a sense of scale. I'm nostalgic for Monogram's great crew figures from the 70s, and I still use them. But on the other hand, as far as figures go, this is a golden age, for the quality, variety, and number of choices available to us. Just as it is for the kits themselves.
In any case, I encourage everyone to try your hand at a figure, if you never had before. It may take a little practice, but you already have the skills. You just need to practice a technique and you'll find you can do it.