Approximately 75% of weather-related accidents result in fatalities and are a primary safety concern in aviation. This study attempted to understand how financial motivation and time investment influence the length of time pilots fly into degraded weather. The sunk-cost effect claims that financially motivated pilots would continue longer when weather is encountered late in the flight. The results revealed that the financially motivated pilots continued longer than the non-financially motivated pilots when weather was encountered early in the flight. These results support the situation assessment hypothesis and cognitive anchoring. Specifically, how pilots assess the situation and utilize information obtained before making a decision can influence their decisions. Further research is needed to understand this relationship to possibly reduce the number of weather-related accidents and associated fatalities.
","abstract_html":"<p>Approximately 75% of weather-related accidents result in fatalities and are a primary safety concern in aviation. This study attempted to understand how financial motivation and time investment influence the length of time pilots fly into degraded weather. The sunk-cost effect claims that financially motivated pilots would continue longer when weather is encountered late in the flight. The results revealed that the financially motivated pilots continued longer than the non-financially motivated pilots when weather was encountered early in the flight. These results support the situation assessment hypothesis and cognitive anchoring. Specifically, how pilots assess the situation and utilize information obtained before making a decision can influence their decisions. Further research is needed to understand this relationship to possibly reduce the number of weather-related accidents and associated fatalities.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Saxton, Bonnie M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Human Factors and Systems","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Albert J. Boquet","Jonathan French","Scott A. Shappell"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2008-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:45Z","subjects":["air pilots","motivation","degraded weather","Aviation","Management and Operations"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/179","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Albert J. Boquet","Jonathan French","Scott A. Shappell"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Saxton, Bonnie M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human Factors and Systems"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["air pilots","motivation","degraded weather","Aviation","Management and Operations"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/179"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Approximately 75% of weather-related accidents result in fatalities and are a primary safety concern in aviation. This study attempted to understand how financial motivation and time investment influence the length of time pilots fly into degraded weather. The sunk-cost effect claims that financially motivated pilots would continue longer when weather is encountered late in the flight. The results revealed that the financially motivated pilots continued longer than the non-financially motivated pilots when weather was encountered early in the flight. These results support the situation assessment hypothesis and cognitive anchoring. Specifically, how pilots assess the situation and utilize information obtained before making a decision can influence their decisions. Further research is needed to understand this relationship to possibly reduce the number of weather-related accidents and associated fatalities.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Influence of Motivation and Investment on the Length of Time Pilots Fly into Degraded Weather"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Albert J. Boquet","Jonathan French","Scott A. Shappell"],"dc:creator":["Saxton, Bonnie M."],"dc:description.abstract":["Approximately 75% of weather-related accidents result in fatalities and are a primary safety concern in aviation. This study attempted to understand how financial motivation and time investment influence the length of time pilots fly into degraded weather. The sunk-cost effect claims that financially motivated pilots would continue longer when weather is encountered late in the flight. The results revealed that the financially motivated pilots continued longer than the non-financially motivated pilots when weather was encountered early in the flight. These results support the situation assessment hypothesis and cognitive anchoring. Specifically, how pilots assess the situation and utilize information obtained before making a decision can influence their decisions. Further research is needed to understand this relationship to possibly reduce the number of weather-related accidents and associated fatalities.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/179"],"dc:subject":["air pilots","motivation","degraded weather","Aviation","Management and Operations"],"dc:title":["The Influence of Motivation and Investment on the Length of Time Pilots Fly into Degraded Weather"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Human Factors and Systems"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Human Factors & Systems"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:45Z"}