To call attention to my use of the word "operating" in this context, and highlight strict use of the word as ...technical(?) vocabulary, to form a rationale for

To call attention to my use of the word "operating" in this context, and highlight strict use of the word as ...technical(?) vocabulary, to form a rationale for censure of the general thrust of my statement, is pretty pedantic, and a semantic criticism at best. Nonetheless, I'll put forward, that even if a direct flight from Toronto to San Francisco only takes about 5 or 6 hours, 19 hours, and rounding out the time of day to midnight as a circadian cue, definitely puts the pilot 3 hours past the usual 16 hour limit for bedtime (right, 12 hours for the co-pilot, okay). Both the pilot and co-pilot probably had at minimum another entire hour before they'd even have a chance to wind down and turn in for the night, so pile up the anticipatory nature of having to deplane and get to a hotel room onto their psychological state.