Hawaiian Airlines wins least allergy friendly airline award ever, ruining a dream Hawaiian vacation! Unclear just how many policies you have for allergies or if you even have one at all. My suggestion would be that you stick with one, ideally allergy friendly policy, consistent with what other airlines do- so that your passengers are not in danger of being stranded 5000 miles away from home as a result of your inconsistency and lack of standardization.
On our flight (July 2019) from NY to Oahu a week ago, the crew placed “sold out” stickers on any premium products for sale containing peanuts so as to accommodate my peanut anaphylactic daughter-great! We didn’t ask for this. This is what they did.
We had no reason to believe this same process would not be followed on our return trip home on 7/6. Not so.
Upon boarding, I was told this was not possible and simply not done (really? Good thing my attorney family members were traveling with us and saw this with their own eyes). I was then advised that my daughter needed to be screened for “fitness to fly”. Excuse me but we got to Oahu with no issue. At that point my daughter was in tears, inconsolable. Phone calls were made to some mystery medical team and I had to agree that I knew had to use epipens and that I was not asking for all peanut products to be removed from the flight in order for us to proceed. Otherwise I needed to take my daughter off the flight. And get her home…how??
Hawaiian Airlines. How absurd and counterintuitive. So you would rather risk me having to use my epipens on my 11yo and possibly have to make an emergency landing than you getting your acts together? I think that is far more of an inconvenience than pulling a few peanut snacks off your menu (as you did on our way to Oahu) and adopting a perimeter policy that most other major airlines employ. But that’s ok. I simply asked the passengers in the aisles around my daughter not to eat peanut products. Simple.
I would also like to recommend sensitivity training for the crew. As we deplaned, an older male flight attendant referred to my daughter as “peanut girl” and suggested “well at least she’s still alive”. Congratulations, Hawaiian Airlines for keeping my daughter alive on an 11 hour flight. Getting the finger from said flight attendant was the icing on the cake when my husband confronted him for his inane remarks.
Shame on you, Hawaiian Airlines for making a dream vacation for an 11 year old child who is already stigmatized for her allergies, a disability and medical condition, an absolute nightmare.
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