I spend a lot of time deleting silent sections of clips when preparing a new mix. I then create a small fade at the end of the left clip and the start of the right clip.
 
I would love to be able to just select the section, hold a hot key and hit delete, and have the fades done automatically. This would save so much work. And of course I'd check them audibly.
 
Is there any way anyone can think of to do this? It seems like a no brainer.

Sonar doesn't currently have that, no. I'd like it, as an optional feature.

Try showing lanes and selecting the section to be deleted using the Comping tool (i.e. sweeping in the lower half of the clip). This will create auto-crossfades at the boundaries, and the fade out/in of the clips on either side of the "comped" section will persist after you delete the selected section.