Note from Lianne ( No Nut Traveler)
When you are booking -especially online- make sure you investigate if the airline you have chosen code shares and if any of the partners operate the flight you have chosen.
We flew from Helsinki to New York with my 9 month old daughter who is severely allergic to all tree nuts, eggs and sesame (she has been hospitalized in the past due to her allergies). Originally, we booked our flight through British Airways, but it was operated by Finnair. British Airways were aware of my daughter’s allergies and it was all in the system for everyone to see. When I approached Finnair staff, they told me they see the allergy note in the system, however they don’t have to do anything on their side. I asked if they could make an announcement, they said “ABSOLUTELY NO”, that their airline does not make any announcements regarding allergies. OK.
I then asked if one of the flight attendants could ask people that are sitting next to us to refrain from eating nuts. They said “NO, we won’t do it because if passengers have nuts with them they have the right to eat them”. That’s correct, however I just wanted for people sitting next to us be AWARE that there is a baby who can potentially have a fatal reaction from exposure. Their response was “NO, we won’t ask or tell anyone anything, but you can do it YOURSELF”. Which I did. Thankfully, people were understanding and luckily they didn’t have nuts with them on the plane.
I was also told that it was my choice – that I didn’t have to board the plane. But then I subsequently asked what are my choices? I was told, you can book another flight in a couple of weeks!!! We live in New York, I was traveling with my infant daughter, do you think I could just stay in Finland for couple of weeks? This was OUR connecting flight to go home to NY from Europe!
After boarding was completed, the chief purser approached us and told us again that they can’t help me in any way and now that I boarded it is my full responsibility if something were to happen and that they will continue to serve nuts on the plane. She also told me that the PILOT said to “STOP COMPLAINING BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WE WILL DO TO ACCOMMODATE YOU AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT YOU CAN LEAVE, WE WANT TO HAVE A PLEASANT FLIGHT” (she repeated that couple of times) !!!!!!!! I was in absolute shock and simply said “I wasn’t complaining, I was only asking for help and no one, no one did anything to care or help”. I couldn’t wrap my head around the words coming from the PILOT and the way they were said by the chief purser.
I have never in my life been treated inhumanly like this. They made me feel as if I was a crazy woman with an allergic baby asking for impossible things. I am lacking words to describe the brutal service we received from Finnair staff. Never again.
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