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In April and May of 2006, Air New Zealand and Alertness Solutions made real the first scientific in-flight passenger study. Using methodology developed and honed at NASA, the team wired 10 passengers traveling from Los Angeles to Auckland with technology designed to continually measure brain, eye, muscle and heart rate activity.
In addition to intensive in-flight monitoring, passengers participated in constant performance tests facilitated through a hand-held device. Testing began two days before travelers left on their trip and continued two days after their return, ultimately providing insight into passengers’ alertness and reaction times at various points throughout the vacation process. |
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- On the last day of vacation, travelers demonstrated 82% better performance than prior to vacation
- Travelers’ post-vacation performance improved nearly 25% compared to performance before vacation
- People age 45 and older had 50% better post-vacation performance
- Travelers with a companion had 50% better performance than those without
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- They reported 68% less stress during their vacation
- They felt 40% less stress during their flights
- They were 38% more relaxed during their flights
- They reported 61% greater enjoyment on their flights
- They reported 50% more happiness on their flights
- They reported 34% greater well-being on their flights
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- Travelers rated their overall health more than one full point higher (on a scale from one to five) while on vacation
- Travelers received three times more deep sleep (rejuvenating sleep when the cells physically regenerate) after their vacation
- Travelers slept one hour more while in New Zealand than at home
- Individuals slept 34 minutes less the night before leaving on their trip than compared to all other sleep periods at home
- Travelers continued to get almost 20 minutes more sleep post-vacation than pre-vacation
- Travelers received their best sleep (about 1 extra hour) the first night back from vacation
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- Men’s performance improved more after vacation than women (though both improved!):
- Men had 29% fewer lapses post-vacation than pre-vacation
- Women had 18% fewer lapses post-vacation than pre-vacation
- Prior to landing at home, women had 80% better performance than men
- Women were two times more in vacation mode than men upon landing at home
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