Nothing Nutty Happened – An Airline Nut Allergy Policy Update

Last month I brought you the story of Susan Myers and her quest to have American Airlines make the aircraft nut-free for her son who has a severe nut allergy.

Those who were following that post (and the wide range of very passionate comments that followed) may be happy to know that the Myers family made it safely to Orlando and back on American Airlines earlier this month.

While American from a corporate level was not willing to make any modifications to the normal inflight procedures (removing nuts from the flight or asking other passengers (whether in general or specifically around them) to refrain from eating nuts in flight, the passenger facing ground staff and flight attendants were more than willing to accommodate the family.

The family was able to receive last row seats on each flight so that their contact with other passengers was minimal and the flight attendants were all willing to make announcements to the passengers immediately around the family asking if they’d mind refraining from eating nuts.  The Myers family also brought nut-free packaged snacks to offer to customers around them.  The family was also allowed to board early to wipe down their seat area and put their own sheet covering down on the seat itself.

Myers reported that the family had an amazing Disney trip.  She commented that organization had specific processes in place to accommodate children with allergies by having food choices clearly marked for all major allergens.  Said Myers about each of Disney’s restaurants where they dined “The chef came out to speak with us about dietary restrictions and pointed us to foods we were able to eat prepared separately.”

Despite the fact that her trip is over, Myers said she plans to continue her social media campaign to draw attention to airline nut allergy policy discrepancies and encourage them to adopt more accommodating practices.  Last month’s Twitter campaign used the catchy hashtag #AACutOffYourNuts