I'm pretty sure the battery connector on the MacBook Air is surface mount, but with exposed legs which does make a repair or replacement of the connector possible. If the connector is broken on the battery side however, this is even easier as you can just replace the battery pack.

Personally I would love a MacBook Air. 13-inch display, full size keyboard, Core 2 Duo and ultimate mobility. With a bit of work on the thermal module i'm sure it would be one hell of a machine.