While I usually hate being one of those who complain about gameplay changes, I think the fact that Tails can have an at least decent flying speed could only be a positive thing, and even though "Sonic games are about speed" is a pretty trite expression, that doesn't make it any less true, even in a more platforming-oriented game such as SRB2.
Also, I understand it was that way in Sonic 3, but I see score chains while spinning on the ground, which worked in S3, don't anymore in SRB2, and while I understand the reason why, it always seems to me that whatever decision is made in gameplay mechanics, whether it ends up making the game more or less similar to the classics, usually tends to make the game experience harder for the player (call it more challenging, or whatever).
Tails' flight speed being lower than his running speed is really irritating, and I'm sure not many people would mind if you kept the "wrong controls" we've been used to for all these years, call me shallow but my reaction was really similar to Ors' when I found out I still could play as Tails and have some sort of decent speed while flying.