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 more than 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.
The author of the article concludes that Speedee is the best choice of today's business traveler based on the premises that Speedee has a 89% on-time rate and more flights to more destinations than ever before. The author has not provided essential information like number of flghts operated by Speedee, number of flights operated by other airlines and what does "more" translate to in objective terms. The absence of this information makes this a flawed argument.
First, the author assumes a business traveler will choose Speedee as their best choice based solely on two factors - On-Time rates and more destination choices. However, various other factors like, cost, customer service, food options, seat comfort etc. are considered while selecting a "best" airline.
Second, 89% on-time rate may sound like a high number, but there is not enough evidence to support it. For eg., if Speedee operates only 5 flights, and an airline with a 85% on-time rate offers 100 flights, it can clearly be seen that the comparison is not useful in making a sound decision.
Third, more flights to more destinations does not clarify how many more flights are actually added. What if Speedee initally operated only 4 flights, and now has added 2 more. What if the destinations are not of interest to a business traveler?
However, if the author had stated the total number of flights Speedee operated before, the number of flights they have recently added, the new destinations added, the number of flights that are operated by other airlines that were included in the study, all these would help make a better argument.
In conclusion, I believe that the authors argument is not persuasive. Had the author mentioned the aforementoned points, the argument could have been strengthened and thus sound persuasive.
“After the airline industry began requiring airlines to report their on-time rates, Speedee Airlines achieved the number one on-time rate, with more than 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.
The author of the article concludes that Speedee is the best choice of today's business traveler based on the premises that Speedee has a 89% on-time rate and more flights to more destinations than ever before. The author has not provided essential information like number of flghts operated by Speedee, number of flights operated by other airlines and what does "more" translate to in objective terms. The absence of this information makes this a flawed argument.
First, the author assumes a business traveler will choose Speedee as their best choice based solely on two factors - On-Time rates and more destination choices. However, various other factors like, cost, customer service, food options, seat comfort etc. are considered while selecting a "best" airline.
Second, 89% on-time rate may sound like a high number, but there is not enough evidence to support it. For eg., if Speedee operates only 5 flights, and an airline with a 85% on-time rate offers 100 flights, it can clearly be seen that the comparison is not useful in making a sound decision.
Third, more flights to more destinations does not clarify how many more flights are actually added. What if Speedee initally operated only 4 flights, and now has added 2 more. What if the destinations are not of interest to a business traveler?
However, if the author had stated the total number of flights Speedee operated before, the number of flights they have recently added, the new destinations added, the number of flights that are operated by other airlines that were included in the study, all these would help make a better argument.
In conclusion, I believe that the authors argument is not persuasive. Had the author mentioned the aforementoned points, the argument could have been strengthened and thus sound persuasive.
