p51wiseguy, the answer is "bean-counters". They rule aviation. No care, no responsibility but for a hefty quarterly bonus in their salary. This is their only concern. "Safety" is a catchphrase used to sell. Luck is the gambling tool. And the pilots? How long a sad history is there of pilots selling their soul to fly a shiny jet for below poverty line salaries and an over-zealous willingness to bow down to the boss' demands at the expense of that "safety" word, let alone professionalism. Egos and aspirations cloud judgement.
To answer other questions or points regarding an FO taking over, the FO needs to be
a) confident;
b) experienced;
c) have received sound and proper training;
d) posses skills to be able to take over;
e) know what an unstable approach is, despite what the SOPs say;
f) be assured that the airline will support him/her as opposed to blindly not letting the Cmdr lose face;
.......and so on and so forth.
How can they with 175-250 hrs (max) TT? What experience or confidence let alone training have they to call on? Their tool box is all but empty.
So, when NONE of these parameters are present due [criminally] negligent training programs, the FO simply does not posses these skills, by way of knowledge, experience, confidence, etc.
That is why guys like many of us would have or did have no problem about calling "GO AROUND" when the time came to do so. We came from a different [airline] culture or training and standards, let alone the "hour building" in GA and/or regionals.
We practice engine failures (all types), hydraulic, electrical, pneumatic failures, etc but not always CRM in the sim. A trick of mine was to pull the FO aside and tell him when I tap him on the shoulder he is to call "GO AROUND" despite CAVOK, nil wind conditions. (Does the Capt know what the FO saw mid-way down the runway when his/her attention is in between scan and touchdown point at 500-300 ft altitude?) Interesting results when dealing with a known autocratic Capt and / or submissive FO. Or, ask the PF to deliberately make an unstable approach (usually the Capt I would ask) to see how far the PM (usually FO) would let it go. Did he/she know the required callouts? Would he/she use them correctly? Would they have the confidence to call it, or take over? Same with reverse roles.
All pilots say (the Monday quarterbacks) "If I was there I would've....." So let's put them "there" via the sim.
How can we expect the CRM we teach in the classroom to be implemented inflight when it, unlike the other phases of flight, are not practiced, let alone even taught? Add to that nationalistic cultural issues and problems.