Woman with severe nut allergy buys every pack of peanuts on her flight after crew refused to stop selling them
Stocking up on plane snacks and buying a few drinks to last the flight are all rituals of many flyers wanting a bit of a feast for their trip.
But rarely would you buy snacks purely to stop other passengers from getting them.
Especially when you don’t plan on eating a single bit yourself.
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Well, Leah Williams was forced to splash out $185 on peanuts because the plane crew refused to stop selling them.
The 27-year-old is prone to anaphylactic shock with a severe nut allergy.
She’s experienced the intense reaction on a flight before, when another passenger opened a pack of peanuts near to her and she broke out in hives.
Williams was on a Eurowings flight from Dusseldorf, Germany back to the UK, as reported by Insider.
She’d flown out there with the same airline earlier that day for work and says that first cabin crew were happy to make an announcement about her allergy. They therefore didn’t serve any nuts during the flight.
But she says this second lot of crew refused her request.
Williams told Insider: “He wasn’t even looking me in the eye. I think he was getting frustrated I was holding up the line.”
Seems like the cabin-crew member didn’t even really understand her allergy – apparently asking if she needed an inhaler in case she did have a reaction on the flight.
When she found out they’d still be selling peanuts on the flight, the only way she could think to solve the problem was to buy every pack they had available.
She continued: “I said: 'I'll buy them all so you can't serve them. I don't care how much it is. If you're not willing to help me this is the only thing I can do.'”
After they’d counted out all 48 packs of peanuts to charge her €168 ($185), Williams said: “The worst thing was they actually asked if I wanted to take the peanuts, and I said obviously not."
The bounty of peanuts were then placed in a plastic bag at the front of the cabin.
Airlines can choose not to sell nuts on flights but obviously, they can’t stop passengers from bringing their own.
Williams says she’s sent multiple emails and rang the airline to make a complaint and try and be refunded for buying all the nuts but hadn’t yet received a reply.
A Eurowings representative told UNILAD: "We are very sorry that the flight with us did not go as smoothly as planned and we regret any inconvenience this has caused Leah Williams.
"Leah Williams was not forced to buy all packages of peanuts on board – on the contrary, our purser tried to offer her an alternative solution by informing all passengers sitting around her about Leah’s allergy. She agreed at first but then decided to still buy all the packages.
"Eurowings operates more than 600 flights a day, carrying more than 80,000 passengers daily. As there are many causes for allergies and intolerances, it is not possible to exclude the possibility of their presence on board a plane.
"In general, meals and snacks are served during Eurowings flights. In addition, passengers are also allowed to bring their own food on board.
"For this reason, Eurowings is unable to guarantee that the aircraft is free of foodstuffs that may trigger an allergic reaction, such as peanuts.
"Furthermore, due to its construction (shape, air conditioning system, ventilation, etc.), it is not possible to prevent an accumulation of peanut/nut traces (e.g. residues from an earlier flight) despite regular and thorough cleaning of the aircraft. That’s why you can also find an according information about allergies on our website as well as a paragraph about nut allergies within our General Conditions of Carriage (GCC).
"However, the HEPA (high efficiency particulate air filter) filters used on board can help passengers suffering from cat hair and house-dust allergies, for example. The filtration system circulates the cabin air, which is then supplemented with outside air.
"Our medically trained cabin crew always has access to medication to provide emergency medical care in the event of an intolerance or allergic shock on board. We do recommend also carrying any necessary medication (allergy medication, EpiPen) in the hand baggage should passengers suffer from any allergies.
"A strong allergy sufferer should always be prepared for such an eventuality and has at least one, most of the time even two pens with anti-allergic with him/her as a preventive measure and usually informs our crews accordingly."
Jess Battison