You do not have to be in SM mode to move a fleet. The command is on the Miscellaneous tab of the Naval Organization window. If the problem is the number of colonies makes the list too long, how would adding another command that does the same thing make the list shorter?
Movement commands effectively allow you to sort that long list by system
Can you elaborate on this? I can see how to use the "Move Fleet" button to move an empty fleet, but how do you sort the list of colonies in the Miscellaneous tab using "Movement commands that effectively allow you to sort... by system"?
When using movement commands you are only shown whatever bodies that are in that system. So if you click "auto-route by system" you are shown a list of systems and you go to the one where your target is. This means you only really have to remember which system your destination is and you only have to look through bodies in one system.
Droll, the question was about using the 'Move Fleet' button under the Miscellaneous tab, which moves a fleet
instantly, not the Movement Orders tab, which requires time. As empty fleets move at 1km/s, Move Fleet is the only viable way to move them, which is why empty fleets can be moved this way without SM mode. The problem is that there is no way to sort or filter the list of possible destinations. You could easily have 30 'Comet #1's scattered through the list with no way to easily find them, let alone tell them apart.