I'm not even sure what you're trying to say anymore. What, that they just flipped a coin and made a decision in a vacuum without any consideration?
You even said yourself that they made the decision because "they realize it doesn't pan out the way they wanted". Why do you think it didn't pan out? Certainly the player feedback and backlash against the idea had SOME influence on that decision, wouldn't you agree? And judging by the way Blizzard devs talked about no-flying, I think it's fair to say that some of them didn't like that they had to go back to having flight in the world.
Hazzicostas himself(you know, the guy who's the LEAD GAME DESIGNER) is on record as saying he believes flight "
actually detracted from gameplay in a whole lot of ways" and has NEVER actually changed his stance on that. The closest he's ever come to that is the repeated line of "Master the ground first, get to fly over it later" followed almost immediately by releasing Argus where you don't get to fly and CAN'T fly despite "mastering the ground". What message do you think that sends other than "Fuck you" to players who want flying?
And even if we throw away all emotion, you still have to recognize that Pathfinder is knocking out three birds with one stone: They still get to develop and design a world without flying, AND they get to provide a carrot for players that encourages more of that design to be consider. All while still nominally giving players access to flight and quashing complaints about no-flying.
Even if it has nothing to do with throwing a "because fuck you" at players, you have to at least see how it is still practically and effectively a no-flying World of Warcraft. Do you really think that's coincidence? That it's like that just because the devs decided randomly to set it up that way? Or is it more plausible that someone(Ion) is married to the idea of No-flying to such a degree that they're still imposing the idea on the game?
I'm sorry if you don't want to look at the actions, and are instead stuck on the words. The pattern of behavior that Blizzard has shown towards flight is very much a "fuck you" directed at players.