A woman has said she feels “discriminated against” by American Airlines after she claims she was kicked off a flight for having a nut allergy.
Sophie Draper, an electrical engineer and PHD researcher at Durham University, was due to fly from Heathrow to JFK airport in New York at the beginning of December when the incident occurred.
In an impassioned Twitter thread, Draper claimed American Airlines (AA) is a “dangerous airline for people with food allergies” and called the airline’s policy “heartless”.
She says that she tried to inform the carrier of her severe nut allergy ahead of time, but that there was no option to do so online.
Upon arriving at Heathrow with her boyfriend, Draper says she was told at check-in to inform AA staff of her allergy at the gate.
“However, this is where things begin to unravel,” she tweeted. “Firstly, I was met with confused looks by AA gate staff when I told them about my severe allergy.
“They asked if it would be okay if people around me could still eat nuts (I informed them that my allergy is airborne, so no).”
Draper claims one AA employee “bluntly” told the couple: “well, they’re not going to stop serving nuts on the aircraft… I really doubt that’s gonna happen”.
Nevertheless, staff walked them to the plane to alert the head member of cabin crew.
“They were not at all accommodating,” alleges Draper. “They said, ‘we are contractually obliged to serve hot mixed nuts in first/business class’ and ‘it was against company policy’ to make an announcement about any food allergies on the aircraft.”
Draper says she was “stunned” that such a policy was still in place in 2021, calling it “heartless”.
At this point, she and her partner were beginning to become “really concerned” at crew’s “blasé” attitude.
Draper says her boyfriend asked what would happen if she went into anaphylaxis over the Atlantic, and that staff’s response was to ask: “he knows how to use your epi-pen, right?”.
“We were told in no uncertain terms that our discomfort was, in turn, making them uncomfortable,” she claims. “Without further discussion, they were already on comms getting our luggage was removed from the flight and we were escorted off the plane.”
Draper says she “broke down in tears” and that she “felt totally discriminated against for a health condition I have no control over”.
The pair were accommodated on a later flight with British Airways instead – an experience Draper describes as, by contrast, “fantastic”.
“They stopped serving all nut products, made multiple announcements about there being a passenger with a nut allergy, and personally spoke with all passengers within a number of rows of me,” she said, warning fellow nut allergy sufferers to think twice before flying with AA.
An AA spokesperson told The Independent: “Protecting the health and safety of those who fly with us is our priority, and it’s essential to our purpose of caring for our customers as they travel. We regret that we disappointed Ms Draper and her travel partner during this trip, and our team has reached out to apologise and hear more about their experience.”
Though the carrier doesn’t serve peanuts in flight, it says it can’t guarantee that customers won’t be exposed to peanuts or other tree nuts during their trip.
It strongly encourages passengers with allergies to take “all necessary medical precautions” before flying.
Airlines’ policies are famously inconsistent when it comes to passenger allergies.
While some, such as BA, Jet2 and Ryanair, will refrain from serving nuts onboard and make frequent announcements – while easyJet even announced it would be serving zero nut products on board back in 2019 – others refuse to make any concessions.
In 2018, two siblings with severe nut allergies were told by Emirates to sit in the cabin toilet to avoid exposure to cashews served with the meal.
The airline’s official policy is: “Nut-free special meals are not available. Nuts are served on all Emirates flights, either as a meal ingredient or as an accompaniment to drinks.
“Therefore we recommend bringing your own meal onboard if you have nut allergies.
“Other passengers may bring food on board containing nuts, and traces of nut residue oils could be passed on to other surfaces of the aircraft like seats, as well as via the air conditioning system.
“For your safety, if you have nut allergies we recommend discussing your travel plans with your doctor before flying with us.”
