Rest for Pilots

* Re “Asleep at the Stick,” editorial, Oct. 30: There are truck stops all over this country with sleeping quarters, shower facilities and restaurants to abet federally mandated rest periods for truckers. Most hospitals set aside beds and bathrooms for emergency/trauma room doctors and staff members. So how hard could it be for airlines to convert some of the space in their VIP lounges for sleeping and bathroom facilities for their pilots? Then pilots wouldn’t have to waste anywhere from two to four hours of their required eight hours of rest going to and from some airport hotel.

PAUL FULLER

Palm Desert

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As a retired commercial and military pilot, I can attest that pilot fatigue is the “third rail” of aviation safety, just as Social Security is in politics. Neither the airlines nor the FAA truly wishes to address the situation comprehensively.

BOB THERRIEN

Mission Beach