Carrier aviation was still too small in 1918 to make its survival as a separate force likely. Long-range patrol aircraft, however, had already proved their usefulness in reconnaissance and anti-submarine work. The wartime 'spider's web' patrol system showed how aircraft could help watch large sea areas and support the campaign against U-boats. Preserving that mission, its personnel, and its naval connection offered a more credible route to useful interwar air power than claiming a fully formed carrier arm already existed.
Chapter · 31:31-32:36
Why maritime patrol is the aviation capability to save
The loss of long-range maritime patrol matters more to this counterfactual than trying to preserve a mature carrier air arm that had barely formed in 1918.