Kudos for Southwest -Southwest staff helps a South Jersey family travel with less stress about allergies.

The alerted us that they could not guarantee a nut-free environment, and that we should take the earliest flights since the planes are cleaned prior. At check-in we were given a waiver to allow us to board the plane to wipe down our seating area. While we try not to make too much of it, the attendants and gate staff took it seriously, and were very helpful and accommodating. It all seemed very matter-of-course for them. Nuts were not served on either flight, and an announcement was made that there would be no nuts due to an allergy and asking the passengers to refrain from eating them. While we still take every precaution to sequester our children, and we even need to bring 8 Epi-pens ($2000 dollars worth, we need to keep them alive long enough to land the plane and get them to the hospital), Southwest’s policies and understanding give us a significant measure of comfort. We aren’t prone to dramatics, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that flying with children that have life-threatening nut allergies is an extremely stressful event. We believe we are taking a risk in doing so, and every trip must weigh that risk against other options, most of which would put a large burden on us or cut the vacation, etc. by days. In a plane, you are at the mercy of the pilots, attendants, and controllers in the case of an emergency, and seconds and minutes make the difference between life and death during an anaphylactic episode. No longer serving nuts on board and instituting new policies are trivial changes that can translate directly to saved money for the airlines (fewer emergencies and lawsuits) and obviously saved lives. Southwest deserves kudos for their policies and staff, however this issues needs to be addressed system wide.