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"Hello.  I just read your article on Doug Parker of America West Airlines.  We have lived in Arizona for 10 years and in the last several have not been able to fly America West.  Why?  Because, unlike most other airlines, America West refuses to try to keep peanut-allergic passengers safe by serving an alternative snack on flights when such a request is made.  Our 5 year old son has severe peanut allergy.  Like others in his predicament, even the smell of peanut dust may cause a serious reaction.  Almost every other airline, notably Southwest Airlines (ironically, often referred to as the “peanut airline”) accommodates passengers with peanut allergy by serving another snack to the whole plane, such as pretzels or a snack pack, when such a request is made.  They do so with an enormous amount of compassion and understanding of the seriousness of the issue. 

"When asked why America West refuses to offer such a simple accommodation, America West’s head of Customer Care Jennifer Tonge replied that “their passengers need their protein.”  The airline is more worried about the nutritional intake of its passengers than a passenger having a life-threatening reaction.  When you question anyone at the airline about its policy, they always claim that this is the policy because it cannot guarantee a completely peanut-free flight (others may bring peanuts on board, etc.).  No one expects that there will be absolutely no chance of peanut residue or of another passenger eating peanuts they bring on board.  Serious reactions usually arise when passengers all receive and open their peanut packages at the same time.  The airline would virtually eliminate the risk for a serious reaction by the simple act of serving an alternative snack on these flights.  Like other airlines, they can explain to customers at the time of making their reservation that the airline will serve an alternative snack, but that it cannot guarantee a completely peanut-free flight. 

"If every airline refused to make such an accommodation, our family would never be able to travel by plane anywhere.  Is this really reasonable???  This issue keeps me up at night.  In fact, we are currently scheduling flights on Delta and paying $200 more per ticket than America West’s current fare simply because we cannot take the risk that our son might react to the “protein” being served to America West’s passengers. 

"There are so many other issues related to food allergies (e.g., peanut-free schools), which also need media exposure to educate the community.  Much has been reported on the rise of peanut allergy, but not on how this condition affects the lives of those who live with it.  Our son, for example, just went to a restaurant for the first time in his life (up until recently, he was allergic to too many foods, which made restaurant eating too risky); he has never eaten birthday cake at a friend’s party; he is in a nut-free kindergarten; and we have been accosted by a fellow parent in preschool, who told me that it was not her problem that peanut butter could kill my son—her daughter will only eat peanut butter and I should have the school change the nut-free policy."