Does the M-A support launchin g from your hand?  How abouy landing on your palm?  I loved this feature of the Spark.

Hi there, Mavic Air doesn't support Palm Launch, but you can use the SmartCapture, and we also don't support and don't recommend Palm Landing for the flight safety. Thank you.

DJI Thor,
Can this be added as a firmware upgrade as the other smart hand gestures work better than on  my Spark but the Air is really missing these features which are needed when taking off & landing in less than ideal spaces ie beaches or tall grass without having to lug around a landing pad?.

You can not launch from your hand but for landing, you have 2 options:
- disable the landing sensors and then palm land it (a shortcut for this would be great in a future firmware version).
- catch it while flying (stable) in front of you and then turn it 90 degrees to stop the motors.

Those could be useful when the terrain does not allow for a safe landing.