Aircraft Targeting Issue

[Blackcloud6]

One of us has always interpreted this as meaning that only enemy units that are spotted by a friendly leader may be attacked by aircraft, along the lines of the existing spotting rules for OBA bombardments. The other player, interprets this rules as meaning that it is the attacking aircraft that is doing the spotting, not a friendly leader on the map board. Hence a unit in CLEAR terrain may be attacked by aircraft without needing to be spotted by a friendly leader.

 
Neither of you are correct.  8.0 has your answer: "Spotting is seeing the enemy so you can shoot him, and is only performed by combat units (1.2), and sometimes leaders. 

Aircraft don't spot.  Leaders need to spot for bombardment fire and aircraft do not use bombardment fire.   The aircraft can only target spotted units thus the target must be spotted before the aircraft is placed, and "spotted" in this case is any unit with a spotted marker on it on ne within spotting range of a friendly unit not in limited terrain.   No leader is required.  You both are reading something in the rule that is not there.