Reader Stories

We explained to her we are a military family travelling to serve our country, moving from a base in Turkey where all families recently had to be evacuated due to the dangers surrounding the base. We explained how the US government had purchased our tickets 2 months prior, had specifically asked to fly with Delta because of its policy on peanut allergies, had the governmental travel agency contact Delta so that Delta could be aware a peanut allergic child would be on board and yet, we were switched to a different airline and had received no notice of such change.
American says they are required to serve heated mixed nuts in first class but that they would not serve them to us. I explained that my daughters allergy is very severe and that I was uncomfortable with that. She told me it is American Airlines policy to serve them and that there was nothing she could do. She then asked me if I had an Epipen. I told her that I had several and that I am actually a pediatrician but the point was not to have to use them- especially 37 thousand feet in the air with no medical back-up. I asked if we could please ask the other first class travelers to skip their mixed nuts and was told that is not possible. She then said "at least you are a doctor and you know what you are doing," and "because you are a doctor, you could crack the emergency medical box if you needed."