66. The following appeared in an article in a travel magazine.
“After the airline industry began requiring airlines to report their on-time rates, Speedee Airlines achieved the number one on-time rate, with over 89 percent of its flights arriving on time each month. And now Speedee is offering more flights to more destinations than ever before. Clearly, Speedee is the best choice for today’s business traveler.”
Discuss how well reasoned... etc.

A travel magazine article claims that Speedee Airlines is the best choice for today’s business traveler. To support this claim, the author points out that Speedee has ranked first in terms of on-time arrival rate since the airline industry began requiring airlines to report their on-time rates. The claim is also based on the assertion that “Speedee new offers more flights to more destination than ever before.” This argument suffers from several critical flaws.
First of all, the claim relies on a couple of unwarranted assumptions. One assumption is that on-time rates, number of flights, and destination choices are the only features of airlines service that determine how a particular airline would rank overall for a business traveler. However, the author of this article ignores other factors such as fare prices and discounts, safety record, baggage-handing, and in-flight amenities¹. Another assumption is that Speedee’s overall on-time record affects business and no-business travelers equally. However, this is not necessarily the case. Speedee may have a poorer record for commuter² flights, which are popular among business travelers, than for other flights. If so, the conclusion that Speedee is the best choice for the business traveler would be seriously undermined.
Secondly³, the author’s claim that “Speedee now offers more flights to more destinations than ever before” is too vague to be meaningful. We are not informed how many flights or how many destinations were previously⁴ offered or how many are offered now. Moreover, the article makes no comparison with other airlines regarding these features. Without these comparisons, the claim is worthless as a reason for choosing Speedee over another airline.
Thirdly, the article fails to indicate how long ago the industry began requiring airlines to report on-time rates. If the requirement was imposed recently, then the brief reporting period may be insufficient⁵ to show that the airlines’ relative on-time performance will continue in the future. Moreover, the article fails to provide evidence that all airlines, regardless of on-time record, actually reported, or that the reports are accurate.
In conclusion, the article’s claim that Speedee is the best choice for the business traveler is unsubstantiated and may be too hasty. To better evaluate the article’s claim, we need more information about Speedee;s other features that contribute to its overall appeal, about its on-time record for commuter flights specifically, and about the integrity and length of the reporting upon which the ranking was based.

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