Passenger with peanut allergy buys all catered BOB peanuts on EW flight
Aug 7, 23, 5:39 am
#1
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Passenger with peanut allergy buys all catered BOB peanuts on EW flight
Apparenty cabin crew on an Eurowings flight from LHR to DUS would not accommodate her request to make an announcement of her condition and at least attempt provide a peanut-free environment, so she took it upon herself to buy all 48 packets of peanuts that were catered for her flight for a total of EUR 168.
She just paid for the peanuts but didn't take possession of them and later tried to claim reimbursement for the purchase price which EW refused.
https://www.insider.com/passenger-nu...-flight-2023-8
Williams said the cabin crew refused her request to make an announcement. She said a flight attendant told her that it was against the airline's policy.
"He wasn't even looking me in the eye. I think he was getting frustrated I was holding up the line," Williams said.
The cabin-crew member also appeared not to understand Williams's allergy she said he asked if she needed an inhaler in case she had a reaction.
Williams discovered the airline would be selling peanuts on the flight and felt the only solution was to buy every pack available."I said: 'I'll buy them all so you can't serve them. I don't care how much it is. If you're not willing to help me this is the only thing I can do,'"
This pretty minor customer service lapse now gets EW/LH some bad press. Already German news outlets have picked it up, and the tabloids surely will have a field day.
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/nuss...f-f72929e3e907
She just paid for the peanuts but didn't take possession of them and later tried to claim reimbursement for the purchase price which EW refused.
https://www.insider.com/passenger-nu...-flight-2023-8
Williams said the cabin crew refused her request to make an announcement. She said a flight attendant told her that it was against the airline's policy.
"He wasn't even looking me in the eye. I think he was getting frustrated I was holding up the line," Williams said.
The cabin-crew member also appeared not to understand Williams's allergy she said he asked if she needed an inhaler in case she had a reaction.
Williams discovered the airline would be selling peanuts on the flight and felt the only solution was to buy every pack available."I said: 'I'll buy them all so you can't serve them. I don't care how much it is. If you're not willing to help me this is the only thing I can do,'"
This pretty minor customer service lapse now gets EW/LH some bad press. Already German news outlets have picked it up, and the tabloids surely will have a field day.
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/nuss...f-f72929e3e907
Aug 7, 23, 7:19 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,720
To provide some balance, the article does state that the crew offered to inform passengers seated nearby, but wouldn't make an announcement to the whole plane and stop selling peanuts. I don't want to dismiss a potentially dangerous allergy, but I feel the passenger was having a bad day, and was probably aware of the policy and what would happen before boarding.
Eurowings website is reasonably clear that a peanut free environment is not guaranteed: https://www.eurowings.com/en/informa...k%20on%20board.
The representative added that cabin crew offered to inform passengers sitting near Willams of her allergy but that she later decided to buy all the packets of peanuts.
Aug 7, 23, 7:20 am
#5
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On shorthaul? You get the exact same packet of 50g Seeberger nut mix just that it is included in the ticket price and there's no charge. Or at least used to get, I`ve successfully avoided flying them post-pandemic and did so only only very rarely pre-pandemic. Others than myself will surely be more qualified to answer that.
And if someone bought all of them at 3,50 a pop before the flight departed as she did to avoid them being distributed, well, you'd get a shrug and "sorry, we've run out" when asking for them...
(haha, I now have this mental picture of the FA telling the passenger "ham r nich, griieche mer ooch so schnell nich widder rein" in a thick saxonian dialect for the true GDR experience....)
And if someone bought all of them at 3,50 a pop before the flight departed as she did to avoid them being distributed, well, you'd get a shrug and "sorry, we've run out" when asking for them...
(haha, I now have this mental picture of the FA telling the passenger "ham r nich, griieche mer ooch so schnell nich widder rein" in a thick saxonian dialect for the true GDR experience....)
Aug 7, 23, 9:30 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 522
Another nut case (pun intended) who sees her chance for 5 minutes of "fame".
Why would EW be obliged to accept to forego revenue because someone believes (sic!, compare the end of the SPIEGEL-article where they mention that peanut dust will not be transmitted through air) thatnuts peas served somewhere in the plane could possibly be detrimental for her?
Why would EW be obliged to accept to forego revenue because someone believes (sic!, compare the end of the SPIEGEL-article where they mention that peanut dust will not be transmitted through air) that
Aug 7, 23, 10:24 am
#8
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Aug 8, 23, 1:14 am
#9
Join Date: Jan 2005
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I don't know anyone with a serious peanut allergy. If you suffer from this type of allergy, how do you prepare for a flight?
From my point of view of near total ignorance on the subject, based on this passenger's course of action which essentially removes peanuts from the cabin it sounds like peanuts should be banned on board. Yet no airline or regulator has done that. And I am sure many people are bringing on board products containing peanuts or tree nuts. I am quite confused....
From my point of view of near total ignorance on the subject, based on this passenger's course of action which essentially removes peanuts from the cabin it sounds like peanuts should be banned on board. Yet no airline or regulator has done that. And I am sure many people are bringing on board products containing peanuts or tree nuts. I am quite confused....
Aug 8, 23, 1:17 am
#10
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 654
I think the approach of buying out the supply is quite creative.
The passenger didn't take possession of the nuts, so in at least some jurisdictions the sale might not have been considered completed, and therefore the charge reversible. Thus the request for reimbursement from EW isn't completely out of line.
The passenger didn't take possession of the nuts, so in at least some jurisdictions the sale might not have been considered completed, and therefore the charge reversible. Thus the request for reimbursement from EW isn't completely out of line.
Aug 8, 23, 2:28 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2016
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I dont think people understand how food allergies
work most of the time.
im allergic to Garbanzos. You can sit next to me and eat hummus. The smell protein is not the same as the protein that causes the reaction (it is possible it could be).
In order for this reaction to happen the peanut particles would literally have to get aerosolized (like from frying) for an allergic reaction to possibly happen.
so literally this peanut free environment is garbage.
my sister sits next to me and eats hummus all the time. Now if my mom is making falafel they do it when Im not home or fry it at my aunts because that will cause an issue.
work most of the time.
im allergic to Garbanzos. You can sit next to me and eat hummus. The smell protein is not the same as the protein that causes the reaction (it is possible it could be).
In order for this reaction to happen the peanut particles would literally have to get aerosolized (like from frying) for an allergic reaction to possibly happen.
so literally this peanut free environment is garbage.
my sister sits next to me and eats hummus all the time. Now if my mom is making falafel they do it when Im not home or fry it at my aunts because that will cause an issue.
Aug 8, 23, 3:58 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 654
I dont think people understand how food allergies work most of the time.
im allergic to Garbanzos. You can sit next to me and eat hummus. The smell protein is not the same as the protein that causes the reaction (it is possible it could be).
In order for this reaction to happen the peanut particles would literally have to get aerosolized (like from frying) for an allergic reaction to possibly happen.
so literally this peanut free environment is garbage.
my sister sits next to me and eats hummus all the time. Now if my mom is making falafel they do it when Im not home or fry it at my aunts because that will cause an issue.
im allergic to Garbanzos. You can sit next to me and eat hummus. The smell protein is not the same as the protein that causes the reaction (it is possible it could be).
In order for this reaction to happen the peanut particles would literally have to get aerosolized (like from frying) for an allergic reaction to possibly happen.
so literally this peanut free environment is garbage.
my sister sits next to me and eats hummus all the time. Now if my mom is making falafel they do it when Im not home or fry it at my aunts because that will cause an issue.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC154188/
100 ug (that's one tenth of a milligram, or very roughly a grain of salt, is the exposure that will trigger a reaction in sensitized individuals, according to that review. Aerosolization can happen not just from frying, but if someone, for example, has eaten peanuts (and thus has particles in their mouth) and sneezes. Anaphylaxis is no joke, especially when you're in the air.
If you have a garbanzo bean allergy and your family is eating hummus and sneezes, I'd vacate the vicinity, immediately, something that can't be done in a plane.
Aug 8, 23, 4:23 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2012
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Programs: AA (EXP); among others :)
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From my point of view of near total ignorance on the subject, based on this passenger's course of action which essentially removes peanuts from the cabin it sounds like peanuts should be banned on board. Yet no airline or regulator has done that. And I am sure many people are bringing on board products containing peanuts or tree nuts. I am quite confused....
Aug 8, 23, 4:51 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Here is actual, hard scientific evidence on peanut allergy, as opposed to speculation and generalization:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC154188/
100 ug (that's one tenth of a milligram, or very roughly a grain of salt, is the exposure that will trigger a reaction in sensitized individuals, according to that review. Aerosolization can happen not just from frying, but if someone, for example, has eaten peanuts (and thus has particles in their mouth) and sneezes. Anaphylaxis is no joke, especially when you're in the air.
If you have a garbanzo bean allergy and your family is eating hummus and sneezes, I'd vacate the vicinity, immediately, something that can't be done in a plane.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC154188/
100 ug (that's one tenth of a milligram, or very roughly a grain of salt, is the exposure that will trigger a reaction in sensitized individuals, according to that review. Aerosolization can happen not just from frying, but if someone, for example, has eaten peanuts (and thus has particles in their mouth) and sneezes. Anaphylaxis is no joke, especially when you're in the air.
If you have a garbanzo bean allergy and your family is eating hummus and sneezes, I'd vacate the vicinity, immediately, something that can't be done in a plane.
Aug 8, 23, 5:21 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: SQ, QF, UA, CO, DL
Posts: 2,631
US airlines do announcements that passengers should refrain from consuming nuts and stop serving nuts in F if alerted. BA does, too. (Girl with Nut Allergy "Nearly Dies" on BA Flight. EW does not. She probably usually flies BA and expected EW to act the same...
Even when an announcement is made, there are bound to be people who don't hear it or observe it. That is why I am asking how people with this type of allergy prepare. Relying on fellow passenger compliance seems risky.
