AndrewsI feel like your cons don't even come CLOSE to those pros.
There's more pros than that. It's mainly about QOL. Recent posts pointing to using specialist ships are relevant. Having a portable base of operations to store all your modules and ships means you can swap everything out, whenever you want, at most 1 jump away from your area of current activity.
Epi's list are things the FC gives you that you can't get elsewhere, but, the FC as a base of operations is a level of convenience that easily dwarfs the 'ball and chain' whine (or else why keep it?).