still, some ships can get istad by 2 snacs (if they fall under attack from 2 bombers) making passing B&B pointless in those cases.
and paying escorts well is a good idea. but if a trade route has a 8mil profit margin, and you have 2 escorts you pay 2 mils each, you lost half the profit.
oh well, up to the trader really. if he wants to spend that much on escorts.