Flying Allergy-free
My family recently went on vacation, and as usual, we packed a ton of nut-free snacks, brought several Epi-Pens and multiple doses of Benadryl and took several other steps to ensure that our flight would be as safe as possible for our son. As we checked in at the Southwest Airlines desk, the woman behind the counter overheard him asking if a certain type of candy had nuts in it. She asked me if he was allergic to peanuts and, after I told her about his peanut and tree nut allergies, she leapt into action.
She notified the flight crew that there would be a child on board with life-threatening nut allergies (at which point they made arrangements to serve crackers instead of peanuts).
As we boarded the plane, we were offered cleaning spray and paper towels to clean off the arm rests and snack tray of the seats in our row. Once on the plane, the flight crew announced that one of the passengers on board had a severe nut allergy and requested that the other passengers refrain from opening any bags of nuts, trail mix, or other nut-containing food items, as this could seriously endanger the passenger.
Needless to say, we are now loyal Southwest fans. It is recommended that you let them know of any allergies at the time you make your reservation or within 2 hours of your scheduled flight. While there may be other airlines that make accommodations for their allergic passengers, I have not experienced such an effort by an airline to ensure the safety of my child. So, if any of you are planning a trip with your allergic child, this might be something to keep in mind as you make your flight arrangements. This was certainly a great start to our vacation!
For more information on Southwest Airline’s peanut allergy policy, visit http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/disability.html#peanut.
–Robin Davison, MPH, JD, Founder of STAT kids, LLC (www.statkids.com)
February 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
This is fantastic news! We’ve been using Southwest for my daughter to fly unaccompanied, and though she doesn’t have any food allergies, it’s nice to know they will watch out for the folks who do! We have an infant son who hasn’t shown any reactions with baby food so far, but of course the “big ones” like nut allergies haven’t been introduced and won’t be for some time. It’s always nice to know in advance who will work with parents to try to keep their kiddos safe.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Great news! Now if we can just figure out how to deal with the cats that people bring on board. My daughter’s allergies go absolutely nuts. We tried to get United to tell us if there were pets flying. We were told ‘no’ and there were at least 2 cats and a dog in the next aisle.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Don’t fly American… They wont make the announcement. They offered to cancel my flight for a 100 a person.
Jetblue is great though just like Southwest.