MQS007

I am a huge fan of AC 868, aka the London day flight, aka the Chairman's flight. I have not taken it in 6 months but have not had the shade issue so if this is something new it would upset me on that flight as, but part of the luxury of the DAY flight is being in daylight so you stay awake and when you get to London, go out for a late dinner (London time) and then bed which makes, for me at least, a minimal jet lag experience.

fin 645

Yes, as you describe, exposure to daylight (not a weak reading light) is a key jet lag avoidance strategy, along with immediately getting into the habits normal to the time at your destination. It beats me how all those souls who plunge themselves in darkness manage to recover, particularly on eastbound TPACs. Using AC 34 as an example, it's a short day/short night/short day flight SYD to YYZ, but it's usually all in darkness. Add to this two breakfasts before darkness falls again, it's no wonder my body takes 3 or 4 days to recover. AC 33 works better - the entire flight is in darkness but arrives in the morning. Go through the day (and daylight) as normal, collapse into bed after dinner and that's it - no further recovery needed.

lallied

Everyone has their own strategies to help with time zone changes, but even the best personal strategy of light during flight won’t fix 13hr change. And one never knows where passengers are from (they could be in transit from EU for a TPAC).

Seems to me being flexible and considerate is what’s needed. Let people get light if they are next to a window if they have a plan /want. That doesn’t help the poor pax in aisle in Y or D/G in J though. Just the window gatekeepers. Unless AC policy is to keep cabin flooded with natural light when there is natural light and let people close their shades / use eye shades.

But they have never done that. Even in the pre 789 days they used to ask everyone to close shades and come yell at you if you tried to let a shard of real light through. In some respects it may be better to have the light police close you down than be chastised loudly by SD for raising windows shade 1 inch

MQS007

I think the origin of asking people to put the shades down was to allow people to watch the movie. Those days are long behind us.

marchelli

Spoke with my source. According to them, no official AC policy and it's an SD action most likely due to a request of multiple people. SD should be unlocking your window if you ask for it.

lallied

Indeed, but have been chastised even in pods....

IluvSQ

As a window shade open guy, I have thick skin.
Flew HX SFO-HKG earlier this week, I was the only pax in the J cabin to keep the shade up all flight, even when sleeping.
Cabin crew lowered the shade 5 times while I was napping, I raised it back 5 times!
But I arrived fully adjusted to the time difference.

james dean

Be nice if some cabin crew SD's could chime in on this, be good to hear their side of the equation!

YVRtoYYZ

I actually find AC34 easier than AC33. With AC34, you stay awake for 8-10hrs throughout the Sydney afternoon/evening, go to sleep as you would in Sydney and wake up after 6hrs in the morning in Vancouver. Voila...you're now on local time.

AC33 would be a challenge for those originating in YVR as you are ready to go to sleep upon departure. As I originate in YYZ, I sleep the YYZ-YVR segment, stay awake for 8hrs YVR-SYD then sleep the remaining portion of the flight (which equates to a later night in Sydney but waking up local time in the morning).

As for the window shade, I keep it open during daytime hours at DEST in order to adjust on the plane to local time .

Bohemian1

Agree about AC34 but AC33 out of YVR is pretty easy.

You get on the plane, have your meal (or not) and then crash. Maybe an issue for folks who are used to going to bed at 10:00, but I don't find it particularly tough. But as seen elsewhere on this very forum, everybody has different sleeping strategies.

Transpacificflyer

Eating and drinking and then going to sleep, is physically unhealthy. It is directly linked to acid reflux and other digestive disorders. There is also a strong school of thought that the activity contributes to cardiac disease including a heightened risk of stroke. Considering the high fat, high caloric nature of airline meals, the health risks such as weight gain risk are increased. As such, the reasonable argument can be made that the forced darkening of the cabin in a crude attempt to put passengers to sleep puts passengers health at risk.

I suggest that passengers write in individually and obtain from Air Canada the airline's position on cabin window light, specifically that day time flight passengers may retain access to natural light. Copy the letter and present it to the FA or SD anytime there is an issue.

WaytoomuchEurope

Or just suck it up for a few hours of your life because making a big issue out of a minor thing is also bad for one's health. We're talking about lighting levels in an airplane!

All the power to you with the letters and such, but it's not the hill I'm going to die on. Or even begin to climb.

FlyerTalker70

I've noticed the same on my SFO->YYZ which had an 11 AM departure on the 787 - the shades went pitch black which did not help the extreme jet lag having come off the UA flight from SIN. Interestingly the evening flight from LHR->YYZ on the 777 had lights on throughout the flight which I'd argue is appropriate since you're trying to adjust to the weird timezone in YYZ.

Sell blindfolds for $5 or 5,000 AeroPesos to those of us in K(ettle) class

That's assuming your pod hasn't turned into a metal bench yet

lallied

nomadic.relief

Good grief. Ever heard of DVT?! A much more indisputable health risk of flying. If one is concerned enough about the eating-then-sleeping risk, then one might was well remain land bound. Not really the right forum for those folks though.

Back OT, I am happy to note the shades were not locked on AC 63, that said, I was reminded the A seats have an annoying level of "shine thru" even at darkest setting when lying down. Oh well.