Oh I like it. Sort of blackmail? 'You punish us and we won't ever report anything!' Clever
IMHO it doesn't quite work like that - in that if a a person repeatedly damages an A/C then it is likely that action would be taken.
However from a safety perspective it is far better that an incident/accident is reported (where the reporter understands that reporting will not result in immediate dismissal) than that any such incident goes unreported. Bearing in mind that many incidents are relatively minor in comparison to this one (in cost) but may be relatively major in terms of flight safety. (i.e. damage to pitot static systems).
BTW I think it might be a very good idea for pilots to experience a day with a push back crew, as well as learning a lot we would probably quite enjoy it.
Where I would have no problem with any member of ground ops sharing the flight deck for a day I suspect the bean counters wouldn't be so thrilled. (Ditto above!)
Also BTW I don't think that A****** will pick up the whole bill as their liability is limited - as for loss of revenue..............
Kind Regards
Exeng