Allegiant Air Flight Attendant Had Passenger With Severe Allergy Removed From Flight So She Could Earn Commission On Nut Snacks, Complaint

An Allegiant Air passenger who was traveling with her son, who suffers from a severe allergic reaction to certain types of nuts, claims the pair were removed from a flight to Tampa because a flight attendant did not want to miss out on earning commission for sales of snacks that contained nuts.

Crystal Shelton from Washington State has now filed a formal complaint with the Department of Transportation against the Nevada-based low-cost carrier, accusing Allegiant Air of discriminating against passengers with disabilities in an 11-page complaint.

Crystal says she was due to travel with her 8 year old son from Chattanooga in Tennessee to Tampa, Florida, on July 7 aboard Allegiant Air flight 205 but ended up being removed from the plane over a false accusation that they were being unruly.

Identified only by the initials I.S., Crystal’s son suffers from a severe and life-threatening allergy to pistachios and cashews, and he could suffer a serious anaphylactic shock if either come in contact with his mouth or eyes.

When Crystal and her son arrived at the gate before boarding Allegiant flight 205, she asked the gate agent whether pistachios or cashews would be served and requested that food items with these ingredients be removed from sale to protect her son.

The first flight attendant that Crystal spoke to about her son’s severe allergies agreed that they could remove cashews from sale on this flight, but a second flight attendant overheard the conversation and allegedly became “visibly enraged” by Crystal’s request.

Crystal says she simply wanted cashews to be removed from sale as a reasonable accommodation for her son’s disability. The flight attendant refused to accept this request, so Crystal and her son went to take their seats.

Although Crystal says she and her son were sitting quietly in their seats, that didn’t stop the interaction with the enraged flight attendant, who began “loudly mocking” them and “ranting” that they would continue serving cashews during the hour-and-a-half flight.

At one point, the flight attendant even showed them Allegiant’s allergy policy on her iPad, telling Crystal that she was “just too stupid to read it.”

The flight attendant then called the gate agent onboard to have them removed, although the gate agent initially refused the request because they only had the power to remove passengers if they were being unruly.

At this point, the flight attendant allegedly said that Allegiant pays a commission to its crew members for onboard sales and that she wasn’t prepared to lose out on potential commission by removing cashews from sale.

In the end, the flight attendant got her way when the Captain declared that the pair were unruly. The reason given for them being labeled as unruly was because Crystal’s son’s allergy could cause an emergency landing.

The complaint alleges: “The gate agent confirmed in a conversation that was recorded that Shelton and her son were not actually being unruly and that the claim of them being unruly had been invented by the flight crew.”

With no space available on Allegiant flights for two more days, Crystal says she was forced to hire a car and drive overnight to Atlanta, where she bought a ticket to get to Florida with another airline.

Despite her complaints to Allegiant, the airline initially refused a refund and then offered a flight credit. Crystal says the credit is worthless because she can’t fly with the airline because of how they treat severe allergy sufferers.

How airlines deal with passengers with severe nut allergies is becoming an increasingly contentious issue, and policies can vary massively from one carrier to the next.

Although most airlines no longer serve peanuts due to allergy fears, the official allergy policy from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) puts the onus on passengers rather than airlines.

In simple terms, IATA says that airlines cannot guarantee a nut or allergen-free environment and that control measures, such as providing buffer zones or suspending the service of certain types of food, are not always possible.

As a result, IATA says passengers should seek advice from their doctor before getting on a plane and should carry appropriate medication with them. This policy has been adopted by many airlines around the world.

There are, however, notable exceptions, and generally speaking, UK-based airlines are much more accommodating to passengers with severe allergies. For example, British low-cost airline easyJet will stop selling nut-based snacks if a severe allergy sufferer is onboard, even if that means flight attendants will lose out on commission.

EasyJet also allows passengers to pre-board in order for them to wipe down their seat area to remove potentially dangerous nut residues and will make an announcement to ask other passengers not to eat their own nut-based snacks.