I guess Delta is pumping in less anti-jetlag gas on their flights in comparison to other carriers in an effort to save costs.

My vote for best post (so far) of this thread^^:D

Is this even a thread?

I've been doing it wrong my whole adult life. Im only a FO I have much to learn. Thanks.

Actually...I don't think the OP is entirely off-base in asking this, although I believe the issue is more related to aircraft and operating procedures than airline.

Different aircraft pressurize the cabin to different pseudo-altitudes. I don't have access to operations manuals for different carriers, but potentially they also may vary in how much pressure they put on the cabins.

It's probably a question best asked over at PPRUNE (pilot forum).

To be fair, he is The Situation, so I think he's had plenty of practice drinking and fist-pumping over the years! :p :D

Maybe Delta food has higher sodium content than UA food. Or your overall diet has more salty food these days! That plus alcohol are the two leading contributing factors to Jet lag. Since I would never recommend that you drink less, I'll say you should eat less salty food.

You could consider the new Delta suites for future travel, put a tarp over the top and pump in some extra oxygen :-d

This just gave me an idea. I'm booked in a D1 suite this December. I wonder if they'll give me a couple PS blankets and let me and Mrs. Lee build a fort over our middle pair of seats/suites. :D

This reminds me of a Family Guy where Lois became a FA and while she was working her tail off he was flying everywhere for free and doing things like taking all the pillows in the plane and making a fort in First Class :D

Different planes can have a different amount of fresh air in adddition to a difference in pressurization, so I think Yes it is possible for there to be a difference. That doesn't mean there aren't a dozen factors more important, of course.

It's a routing issue. Fly the other direction (west, via Asia and Europe) and the time zone changes make you arrive with no jet lag at all.

On a serious note, many find melatonin helps you quickly adjust. It is a natural hormone which syncs your sleep to daylight, Decreases with age so supplements can help as you get up in years.

Additionally you might want to adjust your sleep schedule a bit prior to flying.

This is absolutely ridiculous, but I'll play along. :rolleyes:

Jetlag is caused by the difference in local time between your departure and arrival airports, minus the travel time. That's pretty much it. Cabin altitude, age, hydration, etc., can affect how much jetlag affects you, but primarily it is simply the different in time zones minus the travel time.

The "minus the travel time" is very important here. For example, if you board a ship from New York and head for London at 20 knots, you won't feel any jetlag. That's because the 5 hour local time difference is but a fraction of the total travel time.

Therefore, I conclude that when you flew United from SFO to JFK on their "less jetlag flights", you changed planes in DEN, IAH and IAD along the way, with a two hour layover at each point. The 3 hour time difference is not much compared to the total travel time of the entire day.

When you switched to Delta and took a nonstop flight, the time difference became noticeably larger because you didn't allow your body the time to adjust, as you were whizzing through the air all the way across the country at 500+ MPH.

So, if you like Delta but wish to avoid jetlag, just do the same thing -- change planes in SLC, ATL and CVG along the way. Problem solved! :D

Are you aware of Delta's latest "enhancement"? Delta recently implemented an anti-jetlag fee - for $50 extra arrive at your destination rested and adjusted to the local time zone :cool:

United does not have an anti-jetlag fee yet, but given their history of copying Delta it won't be long before they add it :D

From a scientific perspective, there are phase advances and phase delays. IIRC humans have more trouble dealing with Phase delays than phase advances in terms of jet lag. This can be controlled through light and diet to recreate the situation you are acclimated to. This has to do with the fact that when you arrive somewhere in darkness, melatonin starts getting immediately released and helps the brain/body realize it is time to sleep whereas when you arrive in an extended light situation, it knocks the brain/body out of whack.

Also, another factor that I know of which may contribute to the dehydration, etc. type of effects is the level of pressurization in the airplane. Supposedly (I read an article about this not too long ago, but don't have the link), airlines have historically pressurized cabins to an altitude that we can't adjust to well and that newer planes are being designed to pressurize to a lower altitude in order to avoid some of these effects.

It's just a hypothesis in relation to the OP question, but perhaps Delta is pressurizing the cabins differently than some other airlines (cost cutting) and that is impacting the OP more. I don't know that i would subscribe to this hypothesis, but it certainly could be a possibility.

I can just imagine if the OP was posting about UA instead.

Headlines: "UA flyer gets jetlag after red-eye flight and sues airline" :D