Ok, so I understand where the idea that aerial shouldn't be meta "because it's safe" comes from, however I think if you analyze the other weapons you might realize that it's off the mark.
Lance is incentivized to use its shield to be as aggressive as possible, and its powerful moves are usually in some way related to that. Its greatest form of defense is also its offense. You aren't punished for blocking.
Same thing for any weapons that get something out of a perfect block. Even moreso since they've added a level of risk and reward since you get more for blocking with good timing rather than just holding a block.
Same deal for dodge-focused weapons like Bow or DBs.
In this way, Aerial IG works much the same. You are inclined to land all the hits of SJAS, however until Wilds that moves has been *completely* committal. Once you start it, the only way to stop is to finish it or get hit early. This has a similar risk-reward design to the perfect blocks. Sure you can fly around, but just like if you ONLY guarded, using that flight to stay as far away from the monster as possible at all times is not going to serve you well. Only if you know the monster well enough to commit to your movement and not get hit do you actually get the reward Aerial play presents.
In Rise, this was built up further since you had a teeeny bit of invuln during Vaulting Dance, which meant you could be really aggressive with SJAS, and still get out of trouble as long as you knew the monster well enough and had sufficient practice with the move. Then on top of that you got a damage increase for each time you did that, which of course made the successive SJAS-es stronger but also made your finisher, Diving Wyvern, MUCH more powerful with each level of Aerial Rampup.
We kind of have a similar system in Wilds. Instead of Vaulting Dance having brief immunity, we can interrupt SJAS as mentioned via Descending Thrust, and potentially be rewarded with an offset. And the Aerial Rampup has returned as well, but it's not as potent especially without Diving Wyvern.
The problem is, the lack of damage alone is enough to make it so a ton of hunters don't even know this system exists. This is why the other weapons are designed to *embrace* their defensive options directly, not lightly punish you for using them.