Narrative:

We had an uneventful flight yet I feel the need to submit this report due to a disturbing trend I've noticed over time. We made use of the weather radar today and I've been noticing that since we're now able to receive inflight wi-fi updates to wsi (weather services international) many first officers (fos) seem to put an over emphasis on using wsi as a means of avoiding weather (close quarter deviations). To me; wsi is a fantastic tool that gives us a real time 'big picture' look at the weather ahead but should not be used as primary means of close quarter's deviation around weather. Using the onboard weather radar combined with the resources provided by dispatch should still be considered as the primary and safest means to avoid weather real time.the troubling trend I've noticed is that many newer fos at [company] (less than 5 years or so) seem to want to disregard the input from dispatch and the weather radar and put way too much 'faith' in what wsi is showing. This also applies to asking for a direct routing as I've always relied on the safest practice of checking with dispatch first whereas the first action of many newer fos is to go right to wsi instead. Recently a first officer I worked with had absolutely no interest in looking at the weather radar and wanted to make all deviation decisions based on wsi - of course I vehemently overrode this ill thought out plan and used it as a mentoring subject matter later.to summarize; when I was hired (and many years since) we were always taught that consulting with dispatch as 'one stop shopping' is always a first course of action - and still remains the case. And that good weather radar tilt management is ideal in weather avoidance. These are extremely important and basic concepts that seem to be waning here with our junior pilots and why I call it a disturbing trend. If it were just one or two pilots then I would call it an aberration but I find it all too common. Please don't misunderstand; I believe that having wsi inflight is an excellent tool and I'm more than pleased that we can now get real time updates but it should not be used as a substitute for the weather radar and dispatch input. I personally use it to take a 'big picture look' but then go right back to basics. I believe there should be a re-emphasis on this both to the current pilot group as well as our new hires.as a side note; my opinion is that many newer pilots coming from the military and other carriers don't fully understand the resources available to us through dispatch. I think many of them still bring a mindset that we're 'on our own' and we can't and shouldn't rely on this valuable resource (the dispatcher). I've been here for nearly a quarter century and I can attest on how ill conceived that way of thinking is - hence my need for this report. I'm hoping it resonates and there's a re-emphasis on this very important subject matter soon - certainly during this time of year. It seems to me that if we're putting so much emphasis on turbulence related injuries (and rightfully so) then this subject matter is relating and imperative!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reported being concerned about flight crew over-reliance on WSI (Weather Services International); while disregarding input from onboard radar; company Dispatch; and other resources.

Narrative: We had an uneventful flight yet I feel the need to submit this Report due to a disturbing trend I've noticed over time. We made use of the weather radar today and I've been noticing that since we're now able to receive inflight Wi-Fi updates to WSI (Weather Services International) many First Officers (FOs) seem to put an over emphasis on using WSI as a means of avoiding weather (close quarter deviations). To me; WSI is a fantastic tool that gives us a real time 'big picture' look at the weather ahead but SHOULD NOT be used as primary means of close quarter's deviation around weather. Using the onboard weather radar combined with the resources provided by dispatch should still be considered as the primary and safest means to avoid weather real time.The troubling trend I've noticed is that many newer FOs at [Company] (less than 5 years or so) seem to want to disregard the input from dispatch and the weather radar and put way too much 'faith' in what WSI is showing. This also applies to asking for a direct routing as I've always relied on the safest practice of checking with dispatch first whereas the first action of many newer FOs is to go right to WSI instead. Recently a FO I worked with had absolutely no interest in looking at the weather radar and wanted to make all deviation decisions based on WSI - of course I vehemently overrode this ill thought out plan and used it as a mentoring subject matter later.To summarize; when I was hired (and many years since) we were always taught that consulting with dispatch as 'one stop shopping' is always a first course of action - and still remains the case. And that good weather radar tilt management is ideal in weather avoidance. These are extremely important and basic concepts that seem to be waning here with our junior pilots and why I call it a disturbing trend. If it were just one or two pilots then I would call it an aberration but I find it all too common. Please don't misunderstand; I believe that having WSI inflight is an excellent tool and I'm more than pleased that we can now get real time updates but it should NOT be used as a substitute for the weather radar and dispatch input. I personally use it to take a 'big picture look' but then go right back to basics. I believe there should be a re-emphasis on this both to the current pilot group as well as our new hires.As a side note; my opinion is that many newer pilots coming from the military and other carriers don't fully understand the resources available to us through dispatch. I think many of them still bring a mindset that we're 'on our own' and we can't and shouldn't rely on this valuable resource (the dispatcher). I've been here for nearly a quarter century and I can attest on how ill conceived that way of thinking is - hence my need for this report. I'm hoping it resonates and there's a re-emphasis on this very important subject matter soon - certainly during this time of year. It seems to me that if we're putting so much emphasis on turbulence related injuries (and rightfully so) then this subject matter is relating and imperative!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.