Nah, I vote keep it the way it is. There is nothing hard or even bad about exploring the Map while following a compass to a Current, and then making story progress to unlock more quests that reward the other currents.
There is nothing about this that CRIPPLE's anybody nor does it decrease accessibility to the game. If it did, it wouldn't be in the game at all after 3 expansions.
And WoW players coming into the game is not an incentive to get rid of this system.

I also don't understand the "CatchUp Mechanic" in your title...what are you catching up to by unlocking flying right away?
And what are you losing out on by having to earn your ability to fly?