Air Canada told to create nut-free buffer zones
 

It looks like people with nut allergies are about to find flying the skies to be a bit friendlier.

The Canadian Transportation Agency ruled on Tuesday that Air Canada should create nut-free buffer zones around passengers who request special accommodation. The onboard snack and meal service would not include nuts or peanuts, or foods containing nut and peanut products, to passengers seated in the buffer zones.

Continued here.

So we've gone from warm nuts to cold nuts to no nuts. I guess I'll just stay Maized and Confused then.

Hmmmm. Potentially there could be two or three separate nut-free zones around the A/C. It would make the most sense to just seat all the nut-free people in the last row of Y, thus impacting only one other row.

I have a serious allergy. I don't really care too much about the buffer zones. But is it too much to ask to get some specially made allergy free food in J? Seriously, the food service for passengers with allergies is pathetic. It makes no difference if you are in first or business class, they will not give you food you can eat without risking a plane diversion.

I take it none of the special meal options meet your allergy requirements?

The two highest-rated comments from the G&M story:

NameGoesHere: I'd like to see a nut-free buffer zone in Parliament too.

alamogordo: I'm allergic to screaming, puking babies, can I get a buffer zone.

What's that first class like, I wonder.

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Didn't they already do that? Or was that for peanuts?

I wonder if you declare a peanut allergy would they need to have an empty row around you (to make a zone) and if you did this at the last minute..would others get offloaded? Might make sense to move the allergy affected individual to a more lightly loaded flight..

Nanny state? What if you demand to eat peanuts or bring you own, will you be kicked off the plane?

No, I've got it: create your own deoderant-free buffer zone!

There is no "nut free" special meal options that I have encountered. Just salt free, Kosher, etc. and some clueless CSRs who suggest eating fruit bowls. Yippee....

"They" meaning other airlines I have flown with. Besides, it is Executive First ;)

I've had enough of this nanny state nonsense. If I want to bring a bag of peanuts and eat them during a flight, I'll do just that, until the fools at CATSA start confiscating them during screening.

I once was on a Southwest flight from PVD to TPA where they served the snack boxes until about row 25. Then some frightened lady kicked up a fuss because her baby had a nut allergy. So the air hostess came on the PA and asked everyone who had opened a bag of nuts to stop eating and to scrunch the bag up tightly so the baby wouldn't be hurt. Then the baby must have breathed in some peanut odor and started to cry. So a doctor comes up to the mother and child and (I am not making this up) says that what peanut allergies do to people is cause the throat to swell until it restricts breathing. Then they held ice against the babies throat to prevent swelling. Eventually we landed in Charlotte and the poor baby had spent half the flight breathing in peanut residue and having ice held against its neck and was in a terrible state. The paramedics come on and unload them and we continue on our way.


Anyways Air Canada should seriously get rid of the nut job employees as well as a nut free zone.

great way to create an executive class feeling........... i have allerges everybody dont sit next to me :p

Will this apply only to AC or all airlines flying into and out of Canada? At least they didn't go as far as the original nut wanted them to go. If I recall correctly she was seated in ExecFirst and wanted everyone there to be denied their nuts. Her pod was nut-free except for her so I am not sure if that met the buffer.

wow a lot of harsh responses. While I don't agree with mandating such stuff by law as it will create possible legal wrangling and such (and as if we don't have enough stupid laws as it is) it is definitely not the first time I came across this:

I was recently on an SQ flight where they didn't serve satay ex-SIN in J due to fact that we had some pax onboard in the J cabin with allergies. SQ does this voluntarily as there are certainly no laws in Singapore that orders them to do so.

Yes, it's inconvenient, but if it means another fellow pax (and a human being) doesn't need to worry constantly if they will have a severe reaction or worse, a possible fatal reaction or not, then I say it's worth it but only in the context of self compliance and not mandated by law.

Full disclosure:

I don't have any allergies! :)

Sadly the downside on this ridiculous airline is if you don't get peanuts because someone has an allergy, then you don't eat. Not unless you want to buy some laughable 8 dollar sandwich that was made days ago.