In the news today is a new regulation by the Federal Aviation Agency regarding the amount of time pilots can fly - and the amount of time they are expected to sleep between flights. As with many things government do - or decide to do - it is in response to a recent event. In 2009 a plane crashed on route to Buffalo, New York, and pilot fatigue was argued to have been a leading cause of the crash.
This is worth pondering in 2301 since one of the ideological issues commonly debated is what the proper role of government ought to be. Does this fit within that framework or not? Apart from ideological considerations comes the real world question of how governmental officials are likely to react - and how the general population might want them to react - when a bad thing happens and we think we know why it happened and that it might be prevented in the future.
One other point for 2301s to consider is the nature of the decision - it was made by an executive agency charged with overseeing air travel. It was not done through a democratic process. Is this a problem?
Some related links:
- FAA Regulations.
- FAA Regulations & Policies.
- Federal Aviation Regulations (wikipedia)
- UPS Pilots sue to be included in the rule.
- Story from WaPo.
