Everyone who has ever travelled before is familiar with jet lag. I was fortunate enough to travel to Paris a few years ago and my body did not transition to a different time zone very well at all. So I wondered whether there is a way to reduce feelings of jet lag. Some research brought me to a Business Insider article which promotes  the benefits of a new Boeing plane. What is so special about this plane you may ask? It claims to reduce passenger’s feelings of jet lag. A very key point is that our fatigued jet lag feelings may not be due to jet lag at all. There is strong evidence that we actually feel affects of acute mountain sickness. Acute mountain sickness happens to people who are over 6,500 feet so it makes sense that plane passengers would feel this. Because cabin pressure is similar to air pressure outside of the plane, passengers experience decreased oxygen pressure.

Image from article

Boeing has created the 787 Dreamliner which has a lowered cabin altitude. They did this by increasing the air pressure in the cabin. The cabin is pressurized at 6,000 feet so there is more oxygen and passenger’s bodies do not have to work as hard to function. This is a major step, because acute mountain sickness is a serious problem and this is the first plane to address the issue. In the past, planes have not had lowered cabin altitude, because the air pressure would put more pressure on the plane’s frame. However, Boeing claims that their knowledge of planes allowed them to figure out a way to prevent the plane from getting fatigued. In conclusion, I think that this will become a standard for airplanes. Many people complain about the discomfort of flying and there is a major push for living healthier so I think that this will become a popular trend and people would even pay more to ride in one of these planes.

http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-787-dreamliner-777x-cabin-pressure-jetlag-2016-9