KenfromDE

Until I see definite proof of extremely serious reaction to a few micrograms of peanut dust, I think it is total BS and repeat my http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20413381-post47.html post.

mother-

One of my best friends just recently found out his mother had lied to him about his "severe peanut allergy" his entire life. Turns out his brother has one, and she figured it was easier and safer if she just told him he was allergic.

BTW Suckiest time for peanut allergy flight: Passover when you had to run to make your connection and they didn't cater snacks for purchase even though it was a >900 mile flight

RollsRoyceAndy

As long as it is not cooked in Peanut oil!

Phil2016

My attitude is I'll refrain from eating my Snickers, trail mix, peanut butter crackers, etc. when asked if it reduces the chance of my flight being diverted and time lost for a medical emergency.

It's also the right and courteous thing to do...

My 9-year-old recently finished an 8-month oral immunotherapy program for his peanut allergy. I watched with my own eyes on his first day ingesting a tiny amount of peanut flour (think of a crushed peanut and taking 3-4 tiny specks of that peanut mixed in applesauce) and the subsequent hives that took over his little body. It took 8-months with some ups-and-downs, but he eats 3 peanut M&Ms daily now with no reaction. So, while peanut dust floating through the air probably wouldn't cause breathing issues or a severe medical emergency, why chance it?

Speaking personally, we never flew Delta as a family until he finished his program; family trips were by car or JetBlue. And today we still travel with three sets of Epi-Pens, we thoroughly clean his seating area before each flight, and we request that peanut products not be served on the flight. The burden is ultimately on us, but I don't feel bad asking my fellow passengers to snack on pretzels or biscoffs for the next few hours that we're together.

For those of you put out by these requests, I'm sorry for asking for an ounce of human decency and hope no one you love ever has to deal with this. Until I had to start living this life myself through the person I love more than anything in the world, I was just like you.

RollsRoyceAndy

Do HEPA filter masks work? Just flew a flight from GEG to MSP and there was a Chinese tour group on board and you would have swore there was a SARS outbreak. They seem to put a lot of faith in them. Just wondering if it would work for those that can't always control the local environment.

relangford

OK, I was being polite: someone who CLAIMS to have one. Had a friend who claimed an extremely severe cat dander allergy - couldn't even walk past a house where there was a cat - then, at a party, discovered after many hours that two cats were under the sofa they were sitting on, but only when they emerged. No sneezing, coughing, etc. UNTIL the cats appeared, then .... Found out the cats usually slept on the sofa.

exbayern

Frankly, it is sanctimonious posts like this which put people off. Eating a Snickers bar will cause someone to have a deadly reaction? Really? I seriously doubt that, and by posting such hyperbole and then calling people names for not agreeing is what puts people off.

What if your fellow passengers dont have pretzels or biscoff or other alternatives with them? What if the flight wasnt a few hours to them, but rather the continuation of a very long journey? What if they have their own medical issues? What if people didnt hear, or understand, the message?

The lack of human decency is in refusing to understand that the hyperbolic posts and name calling is what is the issue, and not the eating of a Snickers bar.

psa727

I am not allergic to peanuts, however, I have a very slight allergy to strawberries, so if I am in F and fruit is served, I just do not eat the strawberries. I can still eat the other fruit, even if they have touched the strawberries. My allergy is really not that bad, but I do not want it to get worse than it already is.

davetravels

I hava non-peanut, but, very similar story that I think will be of interest to some, and possibly a tad amusing in the end . . . .

As I have posted before, I own a limo company, and we do mostly airport transportation. Last week, we had a call from a woman who wanted her daughter (35-40ish) picked up at the airport. The woman seemed VERY particular and needy, making sure that the car was clean, smoke free, yada yada, TONS of questions and requirements. After she booked the pickup, late the night before, the daughter called to reconfirm the pickup, and . . . . .

Now she says she needs a driver that does NOT wear cologne. I told her I would do the best I could, but it was a little late for me to have to juggle an entire day's schedule on short notice. She said - - "You don't understand - I'm not just allergic to cologne - I have an inhalation / respiratory problem and IT'S A LIFE AND DEATH ISSUE!!" - - Seriously!

OK, I was able to change my schedule around to get her a driver that doesn't wear cologne. While she was in the car with the driver, she was on the phone with USAirways. . . .

----> She was calling to complain that, while she was on the plane - in FIRST CLASS - the pax next to her was wearing cologne, and she asked to have him moved - - - but, instead, THEY MOVED HER BACK TO Y!!! <----

Of course, I don't know if it was a paid F seat, or an UG, but this story just seemed to have similarities to the peanut allergy thing. The end result just made me

I just don't know if I should feel bad for her condition, sympathetic that she was moved back to Y, or just "LOL" because she comes across as extremely needy and was relegated to Y!



Any thoughts?

exwannabe

Agree with both.

Study after study has failed to show any ability for minute amounts of peanut dust in the air to trigger a reaction.

I would agree that if somebody with a peanut allergy was sitting next to me I would not eat peanut products, unlikely as it might be something might jump away from me into his food.

BTW, if a kid has an allergy that bad that some dust could kill them, I would consider it a criminal offense for the parents to have him eat any commercial kitchen food.

AJDelvarno

Sorry, but this doesn't sound to me like you truly believe the burden is "ultimately" on you. Seems to me you're dumping that burden on me…and the 100 other people flying with you on the plane.

jimrpa

Somehow, this conversation about the dust from a very small packet of peanuts on an aircraft with a volume of air the size of an MD-88 or larger keeps making me think of homeopathy. How many liters of air are there in an MD-88 or larger aircraft? How, how many grams of unconsumed peanut dust are there in a packet of peanuts? Finally, how frequently is the air in an aircraft cabin completely exchanged (I seem to recall hearing once that the air in an aircraft cabin is totally exchanged every 15 -30 minutes?) I'm just not buying that a substance diluted that much is going to cause a severe or fatal reaction. I'm sure if I was sitting next to someone with a severe allergy and dumped my packet of peanut dust directly on them, it would be a different story, but if I'm sitting in 2B and eat a packet of peanuts, is the person in 27E really going to react?

davetravels

Ask Ann Coulter. She knows EVERYTHING!!!

LaserSailor

Scientifically , with a rough swag on the air volume on a plane and replacement parameters I pull off the web, an airplane is no different than a car or other public transport in terms of contaminant concentration.

With HEPA being used( I believe by everyone now) it should be even less.

Thus there is no fair claim that one can assert an allergy on a plane is more dangerous than every day public exposure.

It is disappointing when airlines cater to fear mongering.

theddo

I think it is perfectly reasonable to require you to carry a life saving device with you if you fly in a metal container for a couple of hours, and not because I think you should prove you have an allergy but because I think you should carry an Epi-Pen if you may die without it. I also think you should carry more than one on a plane, and some cortisone and antihistamines.

If you don't and are allergic to peanuts I would consider it a Darwin award honourable mention.