Originally Posted by
Da40Pilot
I have to disagree with you 100% on this. Today, the first officer has the authority to nix the flight or walk away from the cockpit if he feels that the Captain is about to embark on a negligent trip (such as the one in the book did on SEVERAL ocassions, on separate days) and your union would have protected you in the worst case scenario.
You could still nix the flight and walk out even back in '98. Heck, that came about starting in the late '80s with modern CRM. However, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who would do that on their first leg of IOE....
However, what you say about the SJU culture is spot on, and explains why the chief pilot took the CA's side. That could still feasibly happen today in those parts of the world.