As Scott said it does reduce ice build up. but not that much. Case in point my pond this winter in west central IL. I run an aerator 24/7 if the air temp is below 35 degrees (so just about 24/7 this winter). At times (like yesterday morning) the hole the aerator was keeping open was only 6' across. Normally it is 30 or 40 feet across (it was like that on Saturday). My pond was 3 to 4 feet low going into winter after battling the drought of 2012 and the slight drought on June '13 till now (still in a drought area). The runoff from the snow melt almost 2 weeks ago (see post On Lassig Pond) almost filled the pond raising it 3' in the matter of hours. Point here is this exposed the ice that had form in the pond and it was 16 to 20 inches thick not just far away from the aerator but within 10' of the typical open hole.
So if your pond is only 8' deep and you enter winter low because of drought and then get 1 to 2 feet of ice your fish don't have much water to live in. Also you don't have a deep water hole for them to go to that has warmer water. My pond being 3 to 4 foot low still had 9' average depth and a deep hole that is 12' deep.
Since it looks like you have to go into the gravel level to get any reasonable depth why not go deeper? Go an average 9/10' deep with a 13' to 15' deep hole? I would only do this if there is enough clay on site (or close by) to seal the pond correctly (24" blanket in 4 6" lifts compacted correctly).
Final note realize that winter aeration is done in shallow water to not disturb the deep warm water. Also should be done close enough to shore so that the water stays open to the shoreline encase something or someone falls in, getting out is easier. Summer aeration is done in deep water to turn over the complete water column of the pond.
