Originally Posted by Aero1900

I certainly share your fear and concern

I have a couple thoughts about it though;

1) This fear has been discussed since we opened MIA and started some of the mountainous routes down there

2) Every airline is doing the same thing. Heck, The big airlines have significantly shorter upgrade times than we do.

3) In the interest of safety, I don't want to see the upgrade time get any shorter than it is now. It's an industry wide risk factor for sure.

4) We need to make some changes to our culture here where we discuss flying techniques and safety more. Some of the young FOs I fly with are such know it alls I fear they can't even be receptive to learning from me. At my old airline we were constantly learning and teaching. I don't think we do a very good job of that here.

5) If you find yourself flying in the mountains in Central America and there's weather you need to avoid, look for a different arrival or departure procedure to request/fly rather than taking vectors. It's safer to be on a published procedure than to be venturing off into vector/ deviation land.