We were flying home from Disney in December 2018, with our family including our 6 year old with multiple food allergies. We have flown Southwest before and selected them since they discontinued serving peanuts.
They let us pre-board to clean and we told those around us about his severe nut allergy. They were all were kind. Mid flight he got hives. He is 6 and was watching a movie. We rang the bell for the flight attendant. She was rude and embarrassed my family. She said well you should travel with epinephrine. Do you have it? I was simply asking her to make an an announcement as a courtesy. She refused.
In the past, Southwest has made a courtesy announcement. They don’t serve nuts but it seems they no longer allow their staff to make the courtesy announcement. I do understand the concept of the airlines not having the ability to control what people are allowed to eat or carry themselves on the plane. However, I feel that people do have compassion and that following an announcement of a food allergy onboard an airline they would be more likely to forgo their self packed snack vs a medical emergency. I think Southwest is missing the point and more food allergy parents may not feel comfortable with elements of their new policy.
The mom and her son sitting next to me were appalled and wanted to tweet about the incident. I was already upset and worried and quite frankly ashamed by the way she spoke to me. I followed up with an email to southwest. The response was less than satisfactory and they offered me $100. They can keep their money until they reconsider the “courtesy announcement”.
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