I don't think fighters should require a carrier to be viable. A hullmod that lets civilian-hulled ships have the carrier trait with 0% credit recovery at the expense of twice one fighter's recovery supply cost in storage space would make early game fighters viable, make mid-late combat carriers and carrier flagships viable (since losing your carrier wouldn't be an utter loss of every fighter wing you have) and would make shuttles and civilian escorts viable in the late game.
Plus the thought of just keeping a mothballed broadsword in the hold of a s_class kite so you can break it out at the next auto factory you dock at to replace your flight and then put it back in storage just makes sense
