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Air Canada told to create nut-free buffer zones

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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:09 pm
  #1  
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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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:21 pm
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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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:24 pm
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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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:28 pm
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Originally Posted by erasmus99
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?
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:35 pm
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Originally Posted by okazon69
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.
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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 5:39 pm
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Originally Posted by erasmus99
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.
What's that first class like, I wonder.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:03 pm
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9700/5.0.0.862 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/107)

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..
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:07 pm
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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!

Last edited by Tangoer; Oct 19, 2010 at 6:14 pm
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:31 pm
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Originally Posted by tomh009
I take it none of the special meal options meet your allergy requirements?
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....

What's that first class like, I wonder.
"They" meaning other airlines I have flown with. Besides, it is Executive First
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:51 pm
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And what about those passengers who want to nibble on a small bag of nuts but find themselves seated in the buffer zone? Sorry, pal. They’ll get a briefing that “will inform the passengers seated in the buffer zone that a passenger(s) is allergic to peanuts or nuts and invite them to refrain from consuming these products,” according to the ruling.
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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:57 pm
  #11  
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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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 6:58 pm
  #12  
 
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great way to create an executive class feeling........... i have allerges everybody dont sit next to me
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 7:08 pm
  #13  
 
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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.
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 7:15 pm
  #14  
 
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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!
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Old Oct 19, 2010, 7:21 pm
  #15  
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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.
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