Travel Industry

When allergens fly, whose rights prevail?

The salmonella crisis has brought dark days for the peanut industry, but farmers finally have one reason to rejoice: Northwest Airlines is now serving peanuts after being acquired by Georgia-based Delta Air Lines. Peanuts are a big crop in Delta’s home state, and the carrier is apparently willing to brave the risk of mile-high allergic reactions to support the local crop.

Naturally, passengers with allergies — and their parents — aren’t as happy.

“There’s no more flights on Northwest for us or any of our family members,” Margaret Gildner, of St. Louis Park, Minn., told a reporter at McClatchy/Tribune Newspapers. Since her son is allergic to peanuts, she rebooked a planned trip to Florida on another airline.

Peanut-allergy sufferers aren’t the only ones who object to allergens in the air, although they are the most likely to suffer fatal consequences — about half of all food allergy deaths are caused by peanuts, according to the article.

Pets on planes are also a big source of suffering for some who are allergic — and a big source of controversy among passengers. Elliott.org reported that one passenger demanded compensation after being seated next to a cat brought on an allergy attack. She felt the airline should have notified her before a passenger with a pet was seated next to her. Others argued that it’s the responsibility of the passenger to notify the airline that she cannot sit next to a pet. A discussion on the same topic on the Washington Post’s Travel Log resulted in dozens of comments, many of them quite vitriolic, about whether animals, particularly cats, should be allowed in airplane cabins. Some even suggested that those with severe allergies should not be flying at all.

Peanut farmers, animal lovers and allergy sufferers — just a few of the opposing groups thrown into the sealed jar of air travel (and sometimes literally shaken up). Whether airlines have the duty of limiting allergens in their cabins, or whether passenger choice to eat a peanut or transport a cat should reign, there is at least a clear safest path for allergy sufferers: Speak up. In all the cases I read about, airline staff would move someone to avoid having them sit next to their allergen, and those carriers that serve peanuts are supposed to create a buffer zone around any allergic passengers (a few rows in which no peanuts are served). And, since for now there’s no guarantee that you won’t be exposed to allergens, definitely carry antihistamines, epinephrine or whatever you need. Limit your suffering first — you can argue about right and wrong when you’re on the ground.

Photo by Nrbelex via Creative Commons license.