Airline Policies regarding Food Allergies

My first post in June highlighted JetBlue as an accommodating airline for those with nut allergies. For those who haven't found it you can click on JetBlue Most Accommodating Airline and go directly to the blog post.

My personal experience propelled me to investigate airline policies surrounding nuts and what an airline would do to accommodate a life threatening nut allergy.   When I notified the JetBlue crew that I was allergic to nuts they accommodated me by making an announcement they would not be serving nuts on the plane and asked that passengers refrain from eating nuts.  I thought that meant that was their policy. Instead, when I began researching for this blog I found that JetBlue's policies were similar to other airlines.  Southwest seems to have accommodations similar to those of JetBlue.  In general, I found the following is what airlines are willing to do.

1. You can notify the crew you are allergic to peanuts.
2. In some cases they will create a three row buffer zone for you if they serve nuts
3. But they will not ask passengers who brought nuts with them to refrain from eating them.
4. Some airlines will allow you to board early and wipe down your own seating area to assure it is nut free.  

Allergic Living a magazine and website offers a chart in PDF form that lists individual airlines and their policies.

Here is the link to the actual site.  http://allergicliving.com/

You can access the  PDF by clicking on Airline Policies Regarding Peanut Allergies  

It is amazing to me that airlines are so cavalier about such a life threatening allergy.  It seems to me they probably do not understand the severity of the situation.  A recent film, "More than an Inconvenience" highlights the difficulties food allergy sufferers have when traveling.  I couldn't link you to it so I am providing you with a URL to watch the film.

<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/65931486" width="500" height="281" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

Luckily, food allergy sufferers are becoming more vocal.  As airlines understand better the risks of food allergies they may be more amenable to offering accommodations for food allergy sufferers.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Airline travel JetBlue the most accommodating

The most difficult part of food allergies is you never know when an ingredient you are allergic to will pop up in a recipe or restaurant.  Asking every person you visit or restaurant you go to what ingredients are in the food can be difficult and embarrassing.  People without food allergies do not take them seriously or consider them life threatening.  So often I end up eating before I go out to make sure that I can identify what I am eating.  Air travel can be the most frustrating.  Airlines regularly serve nuts as an snack.  As someone who becomes ill just from the scent of nuts I have great trepidation once the snacks begin to be served.  JetBlue will not serve nuts if you let them know when you board that you have a nut allergy.  I appreciate the service because it takes all the anxiety and risk out of air travel.  Thus my first recommendation is to fly JetBlue if you have food allergies.