Apr 30
A passenger on Southwest with a severe nut allergy was ignored while pistachios were served nearby and left to handle the situation alone. Forced to move during turbulence with no help, the experience became both physically dangerous and emotionally distressing.

“We Have to Serve the Nuts”—Nut Allergy Dismissed on Southwest!

I have been flying Southwest Airlines since I was 10 years old. I’m now 34. I always preboard for my nut allergies and inform the flight attendants, and I have never had an issue—until now.

I was seated in row 16C when they began serving pistachios onboard. I immediately said, “Oh, please, can you not serve them? I am highly allergic.” The flight attendant looked at me, ignored me, and said, “I have to. Sorry.” I had tears in my eyes.
As I sat there, I told the flight attendant how serious my pistachio allergy was. He didn’t care. He walked away while I was still talking and sobbing.

The people sitting next to me began opening the pistachios and didn’t care either. My eyes, mouth, and face started to get itchy. He then said, “Yeah, hopefully you don’t have a reaction. Nothing I can do.” He also told me that he had previously seen a mother and daughter have a severe reaction to pistachios—and nothing was done then either.

They didn’t stop serving the nuts.
It felt like the nuts had more priority than the people.

When the flight attendant came back, he said, “You can move you to the back if you’d like.” I had paid for extra legroom and was never informed that nuts would be served, but I moved due to the symptoms that had already started.

I then had to go find a seat myself. I ran to the back of the plane.
The plane was in turbulence, and I almost fell over trying to move while carrying all of my bags. No one helped me. I made my way to the back of the plane on my own.  No refund from the airline for paying extra for my original seat.

I was traveling alone and ended up having a panic attack. I was terrified the entire time—what if I had a reaction and no one was there to help and they ignored me then? I cried for the entire flight. Another mom nearby was incredibly kind to me and tried to comfort me while I was going through this alone. The flight crew just acted like I was invisible, as if food allergy did not matter at all or deserve a little kindness.

Later that night, I had to take antihistamines. If I had not removed myself from the situation, the reaction could have progressed to anaphylaxis. It was terrifying being in the air and being dismissed as if a food allergy is not a real medical condition that deserves respect. No one should ever be made to feel this unsafe, ignored, and alone over a life-threatening allergy.