If your a LS bounty hunter Skadge would never be on your ship, except in a body bag. I don't know about new companions, given the budget cuts, but you might be right. Would still be awesome.
There are also quite a few other choices that would lead to you killing, you just getting rid of, a companion. But no, people whine that they didn't have a healer or whatever companion afterwards. So instead of ignoring the whiners, which they should have, or just replacing that companion with a generic droid or something shortly afterwards. They removed that option.
Really wish MMO devs would stop listening to the whining part of the community for once. Sure they may be vocal, that doesn't mean they are right.