I'm not old but i think i know enough to helk.

1 - Bomber stat does NOT count anymore. Therefore Bomber stat is USELESS.
2 - The Aircraft ability is still useless.

The only thing that still maters is Fighter stat HOWEVER late classing your fighters is still beneficial as Crew growth is bigger when you don't class them to Ace. The bigger crew (assuming you filled it out with Vets and Experts) will have more Fighter Ability when compared to a normallly classed FP with a similar Expert/Vet ratio.

in other words... if you made fighters with high bomber stat and low fighter stat then start thinking about making new ones... and roll USN if you can.

Any other opinions?

Which stats matter for fighters and bombers? What if you use manual bombing?

if you dont believe us, just check the patch notes for the CV patch, simple.

Aircraft = disabled
Fighter = Fighter attack and defense only
Bomber = Bomber attack and defense only

Only other stat you might want is repair and restore

as for manual bombing, see bomber above

Thanks for this info. I was under the mistaken impression that the Bomber stat still gave fighters some additional durability.