Argument summary

Do Pilots Have Enough Layover Time? From time immemorial, most if not all the toddlers havebeen having the passion of becoming a pilot when they are of age. This has been evidenced especially when they are asked of their career dreams and aspirations. However, in the recent past, most of the kids often tarry to seek for more clarification on whether the pilots have enough layover time or not. (Nicole 23) Therefore, as a matter of concern, it is imperative to understand whether these pilots have enough time or not
CLAIM
Pilots and flight crewmembers usually suffer from jet lag and fatigue due to their overwork load. Therefore, government legislator and the airlines should provide enough time for the crewmembers to rest.
REASONS
Ensure that pilots’ performance is 100% proficient.
Decrease number of airplane crashes, thus the number of deaths.
Save lives of innocent passengers.
Decrease rate of insurance policy
Pilots are human and therefore prone to errors.
Pilots lose half of their assigned rest time in custom, activities, luggage claim, and driving from/to the hotel.
8 hours is not enough.
To prevent fatigue.
Provide more jobs for future pilots.
ASSUMPTION
Pilots need to be in a good shape to fly.
Airlines overwork pilots.
It’s a stressful job to be a pilot.
FAA regulations are in favor to airlines than pilots.
It takes a long time to get over jet lag.
Pilots usually drink alcohol in their layover time and they don’t have enough time to recover from a hangover.
BACKING
Ordinarily, the nature of the work of the pilot is complex and this therefore calls for keenness, concentration and a high level of reasoning. This is because a slight error caused by sleep or slumber can be very tragic. Normally rest is important for any living creature so as to enhance vigilance. Pilots being human are not an exemption. They are therefore prone to error. (Nicole 23)
In their published journal, International Journal of Aviation Psychology (1997), Wiegmann Douglas & Shappell Scott states that about 60% to 80% of military accidents and other aviation accidents in US are usually caused by human error. These errors involve poor decision making, the loss of situational awareness, and misleading information. These factors cause fatigue, which emanates from a lack of enough rest. The increasing rates of accidents prove that there are inadequate rests among the pilots.
Normally, the pilots with a short layover have a significantly slower response speed than a pilot with longer layover time Therefore, the pilots do find shorter layover more fatigued than longer international layover. According The Journal of Biological & Medical Rhythm Research, Nicole stated that pilots are required to fly only 8 hours in one day. However; the airlines have their way to go around this rule since they overwork the pilots. A pilot is to fly for 8 hours, and then rest for 10 hours. Most of the airlines will probably make him/her fly the return flight, which makes him fly for more than he/she should fly in one day. This causes fatigue, which has been a major source of accidents. (Nicole 23)
Although it is argued that the FAA increased the minimum rest time for pilots from eight hours to ten hours. The Fact Sheet – Pilot Fatigue Rule Comparison, 2011 states that the time is technically not enough because pilots need to have eight hours of uninterrupted sleep within the allocated time. This implies that the pilots will have the remaining two hours to do their customary activities such visiting home or hotel to have something to eat, take a shower and do other tasks before they go back to the airport to prepare for the next flight
Additionally, this Federal Aviation Administration has no clear distinction between eight hours required for sleep either during the day or the night. According to the article Sleep during the Day May Throw Genes into Disarray by Web Md, nights sleep has been proven by many studies to be healthier. Centrally, day sleep has negative health outcomes and it has proven to disrupt the genetic activity even more than not getting enough sleep. The pilots therefore do not get enough sleep, especially during the day based on these arguments
CONDITIONS OF REBUTTAL
The Airlines cannot extend the layover time because there is pilot shortage and there is high demand for transporting by airplane.
The airlines will not extend the layover time because they will have to hire more pilot, which means more money to pay.
Some pilots want to have shorter layover time because they look for the fastest way to go back home.
Fatigue is overrated
The airlines are following the rules of the FAA so why change them.
QUALIFIER
For safer flights, pilots need more rest time.
FAA needs to make more studies about the subject and enforce new safer rules.
If the airlines comply with the extended layover time, more jobs will be offered to future pilots and most importantly they will help for a safer aviation industry.
From the discussed points above it is therefore right to say that most pilots who go the long distance do not have enough layover time. This makes them inefficient due to the fatigue. This has been the major source of plane crashes and accidents. It is thus imperative for pilots have enough sleep so as to decrease the number of deaths. The pilots should therefore have enough sleep. The FAA also needs to make more studies about the subject and enforce new, safer rules that will favor the pilots.
Work Cited
” Fact Sheet – Pilot Fatigue Rule Comparison.” Fact Sheet – Pilot Fatigue Rule Comparison. Federal Aviation Administration, 21 Dec. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. .
Personal, ” Fact Sheet – Pilot Fatigue Rule Comparison.” Fact Sheet – Pilot Fatigue Rule Comparison. Federal Aviation Administration, 21 Dec. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. .
Health Day, WebMD News from. ” Sleep During the Day May Throw Genes Into Disarray – WebMD.” WebMD. WebMD, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. .
Wiegmann, Douglas &Shappell, Scott.“ The Human Factors of Post accident Data: Applying
Theoretical Taxonomies of Human Errors.” International Journal of Aviation
Psychology (1997): 67-81. Print.
Lamond, Nicole, et al. ” Do Short International Layovers Allow Sufficient Opportunity For Pilots To Recover?.” Chronobiology International: The Journal Of Biological & Medical Rhythm Research 23. 6 (2006): 1285-1294. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.