The hard facts about the peanuts-on-a-plane rule everyone’s talking about

by Christopher Elliott on June 24, 2010



Editor’s note: This is part twelve in a series about the Transportation Department’s sweeping new airline passenger protection rules. Please take a moment to read the full rulemaking and then comment on these proposed rules at Regulationroom.org. The future of air travel depends on it.

Oops! Just as we published this, DOT announced that this rulemaking was being removed from consideration because of jurisdiction issues.

Ban peanuts? Really?

That’s the first reaction I get when I mention the final, and perhaps the most ridiculed, of the Transportation Department’s proposed new rules. Seriously — why would the government do away with peanuts on a plane?

The facts are these: Every time I write about peanut allergies, or any kind of allergies in connection with air travel, I get a flood of emails from allergy sufferers who implore the airlines to create allergen-free flights. (No pets, no peanuts, no shellfish at a minimum.)

I don’t suffer from allergies, and neither does any member of my family. So while it’s easy for me to dismiss these requests as frivolous, it’s true that I’ll never know what it’s like to live with a life-threatening allergy.

The government feels it’s time to take these requests seriously. Under 14 CFR Part 382, airlines are prohibited from discrimination against passengers with disabilities. And an allergy can be a disability.

If a person’s allergy is sufficiently severe to substantially limit a major life activity, then that person meets the definition of an individual with a disability. Part 382 states that major life activities means functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working. Airline passengers with severe allergies to peanuts have a qualifying disability as defined in Part 382.

The government is considering several rules to remedy the problem.

1) Banning the serving of peanuts and all peanut products by both U.S. and foreign carriers on flights covered by DOT’s disability rule.

2) Banning the serving of peanuts and all peanut products on all such flights where a passenger with a peanut allergy is on board and has requested a peanut-free flight in advance.

3) Requiring a peanut-free buffer zone in the immediate area of a passenger with a medically-documented severe allergy to peanuts if passenger has requested a peanut-free flight in advance.

Interestingly, the government has tried going the peanut-free-zone route in the past, but was stopped by Congress.

[The] Department was directed by Congress to cease issuing guidance on this subject or face a cutoff of funding for its Aviation Enforcement Office. See, for example, section 346 of Public Law 106-69, (October 9, 1999)–“DOT and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000,” which stated that none of the funds made available under that Act could be used to require or suggest that airlines provide peanut-free buffer zones or otherwise restrict the distribution of peanuts.

The prohibition hasn’t appeared in any recent legislation, so the the DOT thinks it has a green light to renew its peanut prohibitions.

But how far do you take the ban? Would passengers be prohibited from taking their own nuts on board? How about crackers with peanut butter or something deep-fried in peanut oil? How would you enforce such a ban?

I really don’t know about this one. I love peanuts. I don’t mind giving them up for a flight, but are flight attendants really going to confiscate my daughter’s peanut butter cookie before boarding? Are they going to ask if those french fries I bought at the food court were fried in peanut oil — and then toss them in the garbage if they were?

It’s one thing to tell Southwest Airlines to stop serving peanuts. But creating allergen-free flights will be difficult, if not impossible. It might make more sense to stock each flight with a handful of epinephrine auto-injectors.

What do you think?

(Photo: Euro Magic/Flickr Creative Commons)

Print Friendly

Tagged as: notice of proposed rulemaking, nprm, peanuts, rulemaking, U.S. Department of Transportation

  • Nancy

    So what would they do on Southwest that has open seating? If I want to eat peanut butter crackers I brought on board, I’m going to eat them because I know I’m not going to get a meal.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Currently, there are several airlines, AirTran, American (it does offer trail mix and other snacks that can contain peanut ingredients), Continental, JetBlue, Spirit, United and US Airways do not serve peanuts; therefore, individuals with peanut allergies or parents of children with peanut allergies can select a peanut-free airline.

    Alaska, Delta and Southwest serve peanuts as snacks. In regards to Southwest, if a passenger calls ahead, they will remove peanuts from that particular flight (passengers should also alert the gate attendant of the allergy before boarding as well). At Alaska Airlines, if contacted ahead of time, they will create a three-row “peanut buffer zone” for passengers with peanut allergies (this was their policy back in 2006).
    I don’t see why the need for federal regulations. It seems to me as another attempt from the government to tell two companies (Delta and Southwest) how to run their companies. If Delta and Southwest want to serve peanuts that is their rights and let them lose business to the airlines that do not serve peanuts. There are plenty of airlines to choose from that do not serve peanuts. What is the problem with current marketplace?

    The proposed regulation is not going to ban peanut-based foods at the airport. The proposed regulation is not going to ban passengers from bringing peanut-based foods with them. The proposed FAA options are 1) banning serving of peanuts on all planes (this is already done at AirTran, American, Continental, JetBlue, Spirit, United and US Airways); prohibiting peanuts only when an allergic passenger requests it in advance (Southwest); or requiring an undefined “peanut-free zone” flight when a passenger asks for one (Alaska – 2006).

    It seems to me that the ‘free’ market is working. There are airlines that have banned the serving of peanuts as snacks. If you need to fly a peanut free airline, you have choices. Even if you live in Atlanta, you could fly Air Tran or US Airways (which will require a connection in CLT) instead of flying Delta. Delta is based in Georgia (which produces 50% of the peanuts in the USA) and they want to support the peanut farmers of Georgia ($ 20 MM a year). That is their rights and it is your rights to fly another airline that doesn’t serve peanuts. It will be a different story if Delta was the only airline that flies out of ATL.

  • SpaceCadet51

    Once when working a departure gate for a major Atlanta-based airline, I had a boy’s mother come up to me with a doctor’s note stating that the boy was allergic to peanuts and so there could be no peanuts given out on the flight within 5 seat rows of the boy. I paged all the passengers who were set up to be seated in that area and advised them that if they had peanut products, please do not consume them on this flight. I also let the flight attendants know. Then a few minutes before departure the lead flight attendant came out to tell me that there were no boys seated in the designated row (23). Turned out the boy and his mother had changed seats I gave up and left it in the hands of the flight attendant; she ended up simply not serving peanuts on the flight at all. What I didn’t get was, why the fuss if they didn’t intend to sit where they were assigned anyway?

  • Em Hoop

    Arizona
    How nice that you chose Atlanta as your example. How about those of us who have no big airport with a nice selection of airlines to chose from? Shall we drive 2.5 hours to CLT or five hours to Atlanta to go to Boston?
    How will Georgia farmers be harmed by losing a few sales to the airlines? If they can’t make up that loss by selling to someone else then they are not trying.
    If it’s all that much of a hassle for the airlines, they might just start serving food again. Without peanuts. That would be a nice ‘free market’ move, I think. Nancy would back that idea, I bet.
    The ‘free market’ is not free, never has been, not since the govt started subsidizing businesses left, right, and center. There’s always a fly in the ointment, no matter the issue. Or, in this case, a peanut.

  • Pingback: Chris Elliott’s series on the DOT proposed rulemaking — the most complete overview available on the Web

  • dave

    I suspect this is a big to do about nothing. I just wonder how many people with so called peanut allergies are traveling by air. Would imagine it is probably very small. Probably considerbly less than .1 percent. Why not just issue some kind of face mask to these passengers when they board. I’m sure there are some available that would filter out the allergens for the duration of the flight and could be provided at minimal cost. Won’t happen I’m sure since these people would not have anything else to complain about but IMO is worth a thought.

  • Drew

    I was on a Delta flight last week from San Jose, CA to Salt Lake, when they announced that there was a peanut allergy on board. They were removing all the peanuts from the flight and asked if anyone was planning on consuming peanut-containing products during the flight. One person had a Snickers bar that he was planning on eating, and the flight attendant asked him to not eat it, and gave him a $10 food voucher–and then let him go back into the terminal to buy something else for the flight…. So airlines _are_ trying to help out here…

  • laura

    dave is right; and I think the whole world has gone completely INSANE. take 3 steps back from this issue and read it all again, and tell me you’re not all in need of a real issue to haggle over.

  • Heather Csongor

    I would be happy if I knew for sure that at least one or two airlines are nut free. My daughter is 8 and has a severe allergy and I am scared to death to take her on a flight. I want to go to disney next year and I know flying is fun but I have heard from a lot of parents with nut allergies that the airlines say it will be a nut free flight and then hand out nuts. I think the airlines are losing the communication from the person you book with to the gate person to the attendants.

  • Adele

    @Heather Csongor
    Assume nothing. My mother-in-law has celiac disease (she can’t have any wheat products). On a recent international flight, she made the request on her reservation for a gluten free meal. She reminded them at check-in, and reminded the flight attendant when she boarded. On the trip out, no problem. On the way back, her flight was canceled, and they rebooked her on another flight. Again, she reminded the check in desk, and the flight attendant, and they assured her that they had her gluten free meal. In her words, they plopped something in front of her that looked like tofu and vegetables. The flight attendant assured her it was gluten free. She got quite sick after eating. Turns out, she was served the vegetarian meal and there was wheat in the soy sauce. The point is that the airline may have the best of intentions and try very hard, and you may do your part to remind them. But when stuff happens (like a canceled flight), you can’t count on anything.

    My advice, remind everyone working for the airline in connection to your flight about the nut allergy- to the point of nagging. As a back up, go to home depot and get a few of the heavy duty filter masks (for stripping paint, etc.). They cost only a couple bucks, and should minimize the risk if they do start serving peanuts. Don’t know if they will fit an 8 year old face, though. You may have to research this. It’s not a perfect solution, but having a mask available if you need it is better than the alternative.

  • gharkness

    If it were just a matter of inconvenience, I’d be all for letting the airlines serve peanuts, and tell the allergic folks to just suck it up. But if one whiff of peanut dust can be a life-threatening emergency (and my grandson ended up in the emergency room over just such a small exposure), it just doesn’t make sense to allow these allergens on board. Just where, exactly, is the emergency room that they are going to take these people to, when they are at 30,000 feet? And (I didn’t realize this, so I don’t blame other people for not knowing it either), the epi-pen is helpful, but not at all enough to solve the problem. On the very short trip to the hospital, he had to be “hit” with the pen 3 times, and again more than once in the ER. Again, let me mention here: this is not to make him comfortable, folks – this is to save his life! I truly believe most people (if not all) who suffer from these types of severe allergies would be willing to give up almost anything to have this problem go away, so please don’t get so overwrought about how inconvenient this is for you! It’s his LIFE.

  • http://www.tripso.com/author/ned/ Ned Levi

    Hi All,

    I’m not writing this as one of the columnists here at CT. I’m writing this as a person with an allergy list a mile long.

    I’m not allergic to peanuts myself, but I am allergic to many other foods. My banana allergy is so bad that if I even touch the skin of a banana I’ll break out in hives in less than a minute, and have breathing difficulties within 2-3 minutes. I carry two EpiPens with me at all times. When I was in my 20′s I was hospitalized twice for bee stings even having been injected with an EpiPen twice by me, and twice by paramedics. I was injected twice in the hospital too. Fortunately, I haven’t been stung since.

    Peanuts are a unique allergen, in how severe the allergy hits those with it, and how the allergen can travel. Those highly allergic to peanuts can be affected by:

    Direct contact: Eating peanuts or peanut-containing foods, and sometimes direct skin contact with peanuts can trigger an allergic reaction (Both like me with bananas).

    Cross-contact: This is the unintended introduction of peanuts into a product. It’s generally the result of a food being exposed to peanuts during processing or handling. (This is a possibility for many food and other allergies.)

    Inhalation. An allergic reaction may occur if you inhale dust or aerosols containing peanuts, such as that of peanut flour or peanut oil cooking spray. (From what I know this is fairly unusual for food products.)

    It is the last method of contact, inhalation, which is the real problem aboard planes. Most of the inhalation problems of foods comes from processing or cooking foods, such as when boiling, steaming, and especially frying. During these processes significant quantities of food particulates are released into the air. With peanuts for a few people the simple act of opening a plastic bag containing “peanuted” food can release peanut particulates into the air which can travel from one end of the cabin to the other.

    Yes Nancy, your act of opening and eating peanut butter crackers on board can literally put someone in the hospital. I’ll bet you can find something else to eat. (By the way Nancy, I’ll bet you didn’t put your peanut butter crackers in your 3-2-1 baggie. If not, unless you bought them in the airport, you brought them on board in violation of TSA rules.)

    ARW, I don’t think the free market approach works here. There are many airports with no real choice in airlines.

    SC, it really doesn’t matter where the person with the allergy sits, the way air move around in the plane.

    Dave, the mask might help, but especially for a youngster, that would be quite a stigma, and many would have a tough time on the plane with it. Plus, how is the person to eat with it on, or drink, etc.

    Laura, I can only say, knowing several youngsters with this allergy, and knowing my own, this is very much a big deal. It may not affect many, but those who are affected have very real problems.

    To those with little empathy for this problem I’d like to ask what’s the big deal about not eating peanut products on your flight, It’s not like you’re being asked to give up alcohol, or caviar. And as far as airline profits, I don’t think it’s going to affect the bottom line.

    This is no slippery slope problem. To start the problem is very real, and second, there aren’t very many food allergens which act in this way. There is no reason peanuts and peanut products shouldn’t be banned from airplanes, in my opinion.

  • T W

    In regards to all the comments from non-allergic individuals as well as to Christopher Elliot:
    First and foremost, the use of an Epi-Pen is for Emergency only and needs to be given when the allergy is so bad that the person is in a life or death situation. Having Epi’s on board suggests that the airline is going to put someone in that situation. Once the person uses the Epi-Pen, they must by law, be ushered to the hospital because they will need treatment along side of being monitored for increased heart rate and other rebound allergic reactions.(As well as the flight being diverted because of this. Now the passengers will have a delay) Sometimes, depending on the individual, allergies can be immediate and life-threatening while in others the delay is or can be up to 24 hours when all of a sudden the body crashes and Emergency treatment should be availabl. A buffer zone of three rows ahead and three rows behind, doesn’t do anything for the airborne allergy sufferer, especially when the person in the 4th row goes to the bathroom and has the protein on their hands and uses the same sink as the allergy sufferer. There is so much information on the web that speaks on this issue yet no one, especially non-allergy sufferers, realizes the threat of peanuts and other significant allergies. I can understand someone bringing the snacks on and not realizing it but announcements should be made regarding the individuals allergies at the onset of the trip. Any educated individual will politely refrain from eating their nut products as I have experienced 1st hand. So, my response is this, if people are not educated in the dangers of serious nut or other allergies, they will keep throwing tantrums when nuts are not served on planes or ignore announcements because they just don’t get it.
    I know because I have been there and it is a terribly,helpless experience. I always try to drive when I have more time to do it but it is very diffcult to plan that on the spur of the moment.
    IF everyone who commented here will listen to what I have written the allergic community will fare much better and the enlightenment of all individuals without them will improve. Thanks for listening.

  • CAT

    For those of you who just don’t “get it” and choose not to be empathetic, have you ever considered how inconvenienced you would be if the plane has an emergency landing? Or worse yet, would you want to live through witnessing a person swell up and stop breathing? And possibly die?

    We do not live in a peanut free world, and there are inherent risks in our every day activities — going to school, playing sports, eating out. But we choose to take those risks (and always have epi-pens on hand) in order to maintain a normal life.

    As several people have stated above, the peanut allergy/airplane issue is different because it is one of the few foods that can literally be fatal just by inhaling the dust. Being stuck on an airplane and forced to breathe re-circulated air makes the danger of a life threatening attack all too real.

    I agree with TW that until the public is better informed about the real danger of peanut allergies, we will continue to have a backlash against taking simple precautions that may prevent serious harm to people who have peanut allergies and desire to travel.

  • Lauren

    I wish all of you thinking this is a tempest in a teapot could see a severe peanut allergy reaction just once and you’d probably never eat a nut on a plane again. My son’s peanut allergy reaction was horrifying — in less than 2 minutes his entire body swelled starting from his feet reaching to his face like someone had blown him up like a balloon. He couldn’t breathe. Put one of your loved ones in that situation in your head just a for minute. I will never be the same and wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else in the world.

  • SEATTLE LOVER

    I have flown with Alaska from Seattle to Honolulu (flight 851) to be specific, and they did’nt serve any peanuts and this is there new policy. I’am severly allergic and this is great. On the way back (flight 852), they served cookies that could contain and even if it contained they did’nt serve it within 4 rows and it did’nt even have peanuts in it. It’s about time Delta and Southwest stopped serving peanuts. I have also flown with Norhtwest (circa 2007) Air Canada, Westjet, Horizon, United, and Air Pacific (Fiji) and was fine, but not to the security Alaska gave me.

  • Miriam

    I am an adult woman with a Severe Inhallant reaction to Peanuts and Nuts. I have flown 4 times this year.

    I didn’t know the first two times I flew that my Inhallant reaction to Peanuts and Nuts had increased from Nuisance to Severe. So I was shocked when my plane was stuck on the tarmac and someone opened up a bag of nuts several rows behind me, that I got pulled off the plane for Anaphalyctic Shock.

    Since it was the trip home. Later that same day I tried to fly home again. This time telling the airline about my now Severe allergy. The stewardess not only passed out peanuts, but they offered them directly to my husband and I. I had another bad reaction from all the peanut bags opening around me, but not Anaphalyctic Shock that time.

    The next time I flew I told the airline in advance about my allergy when the ticket was purchased, the person who checked my luggage, the person at the gate, and the stewardesses on my plane. The stewardesses just served a food that didn’t contain nuts and I didn’t have a reaction.

    The return trip was different however. I did the same thing, but the stewardesses insisted that they couldn’t ban peanuts from the flight. The best they could do was not serve peanuts three rows in front of me and three rows behind me. So I had another allergic reaction.

    Each time I have an allergic reaction it is my life at risk. An Epi-Pen is not a realistic solution on a flight, because a person needs to be treated in an ER 15 minutes after an Epi-Pen is administered. The Epi-Pen just buys time. An Epi-Pen is not a realistic option for me personally because I have another medical condition where an Epi-Pen would have a high chance of causing heart failure.

    I am sure selfish bastards say, “why don’t you just drive everywhere and not fly”. Sometimes in this modern world you need to fly to get to places on time. Sometimes you need to fly for business or attend a funeral across the US. My family lives thousands of miles apart, should I never be allowed to ever go to them again because of my food allergy? How much of an inconvenience is it for a person to go a few hours without eating Nuts or Peanuts? Yes, it is a convenient snack food, but it isn’t the only snack food in the world.

    For me personally, people just not opening containers with Nuts and Peanuts in them on a flight would be a major help. If the container stayed closed I wouldn’t react to the nuts.

Previous post:

Next post: