Lbruce1

About a year ago I was on a flight where they did announce there would be no peanuts offered due to a passenger with the allergy onboard.

bpe

Maybe they had a fear of peanuts instead of an allergy? They can still keep flying Southwest, but they had better board first to make sure all those nasty things are gone from their favorite seats.

DaddyRabbit

How in the world would allowing someone with a peanut allergy to board early help with that problem? Too odd.

laxabq

My son has a peanut allergy. We were advised to always board
first. This gives us the opportunity to brush off the seat and
check the seat back pockets for any residual peanuts/peanut packages
before he is seated. If you have a peanut allergy you can never be too careful.

bpe

And you still fly Southwest?

redheadtempe33

And that does make some sense to me, however, I have to ask, do you and your son fly SW? It is the only airline to give out free peanuts in-flight. I just can't imagine someone with a serious peanut allergy would risk it. I don't believe there are many (if any) routes that SW has no competition.

plagwate

DL still offers peanuts (as well as pretzels and Biscoff cookies).

InkUnderNails

There are many routes from BNA where WN has no good competition.

redheadtempe33, it was on a Delta flight where I first was notified I could not eat the trail mix I had brought because of this.

southwestgabe

We do allow ONE person to preboard with the passenger with the peanut/peanut dust allergy to assist with cleaning the seat off and removing any visible peanut residue. If additional passengers were also allowed, that was an exception (maybe there were young children?). While the passenger with the peanut dust allergy can note their reservation, they must obtain a "Peanut Dust Allergy Document" and present it to the flight attendant in order to suspend the service of peanuts for that flight. Many of you have great points on that we cannot give assurances that remnants of peanuts and/or peanut dust/oil will not remain on the aircraft floor, seats, or tray tables from flights earlier in the aircraft's routing. Also, Southwest cannot prevent other Customers from bringing peanuts or products containing peanuts onboard our flights.
Hope this helps!

texashoser

My daughter has a peanut allergy and the incidence of children with peanut allergies is only increasing. While I agree WN can't stop folks from bringing on their own peanut products, have you thought about eliminating peanuts from your snack menu? I realize it's a tradition and that many folks like them, but there are many other snack choices other than peanuts and to me it sounds a bit silly to have policies such as allowing folks to pre-board to clean up peanut residue or to suspend in-flight peanut service if a pax submits the proper documentation.

HBFlyer

Maybe you need to send out a global email to all GAs about this policy. The family in question had three adults and five kids. All over the age of 12. They were going to some cheerleading event in Little Rock. PM me and will give you the flight number and time.

southwestgabe

I have wondered the same before, but here's what I've heard. We continue serving peanuts for a couple reasons: 1. Our experience tells us that we can accommodate the majority of our Customers who have peanut allergies with our current procedures and 2. The feedback we receive from our Customers doesn't justify the need to permanently remove peanuts from our flights. We actually receive much more positive comments regarding our peanuts from Customers who were counting on a low-sugar, low-carb snack.

texashoser

OK - fair enough.

nsx

I vote for macadamia nuts. I was introduced to those is the regulated days of 4-propeller aircraft. 3 nuts in a tiny tin, decades before these nuts appeared in grocery stores.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

ftnoob

Not to mention the dry-roasted peanuts are the only wheat-free snack option I've ever seen on a WN flight. Gluten sensitivity is exploding. Gluten-free / wheat-free may be the fastest growing special diet trend.

Trouble is, the honey-roasted peanuts from King nut do have wheat starch on the ingredient list, so wheat-free diet folks only have a snack option on WN every other year. I have checked labels in grocery stores and found that other brands of honey-roasted nuts use non-wheat starches (e.g., potato starch).