ALL airlines must ban the serving of ALL nuts on ALL flights, says Judy Finnigan
Passengers must be told that, just as taking a penknife on board is prohibited, so is bringing a bag of nuts.
Richard writes here today of the overwhelming case for keeping our children safe from the malign, baleful influence of twisted social media sites. But threats to their very lives swirl from so many different sources, don’t they? Allergies, for one.
We all remember the tragic case of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, the lovely girl who died after eating a sandwich baguette from Pret a Manger. She suffered a delayed but catastrophic allergic reaction while on board a British Airways flight to Nice.
These days, some airlines no longer serve nuts as snacks, however others still do.
Most will at the very least make an announcement before take-off warning passengers that someone with a severe nut allergy is on board, and asking them not to consume any nuts at all.
Which emphatically did NOT happen last week when Georgie Palmer, her husband Nick and their daughters Rosie and Annie were due to fly with SunExpress from London to Turkey for a family holiday.
Rosie has a peanut allergy. Her mother made repeated attempts to inform the airline days before travelling, but says she never got further than a voicemail that was already full, so she couldn’t leave a message. She also tried to tell ground crew at check-in, but was told to speak directly to cabin crew upon boarding.
Georgie did this, but said that to her astonishment staff refused to make an announcement to the other passengers, as it is not the airline’s policy. (SunExpress have indeed confirmed this is the case; they say they cannot guarantee passenger compliance and an allergen-free environment).
In desperation Georgie began telling people sitting nearby herself, asking them to pass the message on. She says they were happy to do so.
Meanwhile a row was brewing with the crew. (I’m not surprised. I’d have been furious with them too).
The pilot alleges Rosie’s father began to behave aggressively; Mr Palmer says the exact opposite was the case. Whatever, the outcome was the family being escorted back off the plane and having to fork out £5,000 to continue with their journey with another airline.
The solution to all this is staggeringly simple. ALL airlines must ban the serving of ALL nuts on ALL flights.
Passengers must be told that, just as taking a penknife on board is prohibited, so is bringing a bag of nuts. No exceptions. Anyone found doing so will be banned from flying with the airline for life.
It’s not exactly complicated, is it?
