A wake-up call for airlines

THE US aviation regulator has suspended two pilots for falling asleep at the controls of a flight from Honolulu earlier this year. Flight 1002 was heading for Hilo Airport but overshot by 15 miles before the pilots woke up and turned back to land safely. The plane was on automatic pilot, but that was hardly a comfort to the passengers.

More worrying still is the fact that pilots falling asleep on the job is far from being a rare occurrence in these days of cut-throat airline competition. In June, an Air India flight from Dubai to Mumbai, with 100 passengers aboard, went well past i...