Elise Palmer’s roughest flight never got off the ground.
On Dec. 29,Palmer attempted to fly from Victoria, B.C. to Toronto for a university reunion, but was denied a seat because of her peanut allergy.
With everyone seated, she was the only one left standing. The plane was held on the tarmac for an extra 30 minutes.
“I’m standing there in the middle of the aisle in tears. It’s humiliating, it’s seven in the morning, I just left my home and 300 people are watching me,” she says.
Palmer has had a potentially life threatening allergy her whole life and takes precautions wherever she goes. When she flies, the University of King’s College journalism student carries two EpiPens and Benadryl, along with wet wipes to sanitize her seating area. Despite the precautions, Palmer was removed from her flight.
Palmer says she usually travels with Air Canada and has never had this type of problem before. She says she identified herself as having a peanut allergy online prior to checking in.
The airline usually provides a nut-free buffer zone in the cabin to protect those with allergies. In this case, despite following the rules, she says she was kicked off her flight by a service director not wanting to assume liability for an allergy sufferer.
Palmer says an Air Canada employee working at the gate ensured she was put on another flight. She made it to Toronto, but missed her reunion.
For certain medical conditions, Air Canada’s policy requires a passenger to get travel approval by getting a medical form filled out by their treating physician 48 hours prior to checking in. Every 10 years, the form has to be renewed.
Palmer sent a complaint letter to Air Canada on Jan 1. She wrote:
“I travel dozens of times each year in my work as a journalist and travel blogger. I follow the same procedure each time, as explained to me by the Air Canada Medical Desk. I check-in online, and then identify myself as having a peanut allergy at the gate and again to the service director of the flight … Sometimes they provide me with a buffer (ranging from the person next to me to three rows in front and behind). Sometimes they write down my seat number, sometimes they ignore me.”
Air Canada responded to Palmer’s complaint with an apology about any confusion related to their policy. “Passengers with severe allergies, who have a permanent file with our Medical Desk, must contact this desk every time they make a new reservation for travel,” the apology read.
“Please know we take our obligation to meet the needs of all our travelers very seriously and we appreciate hearing about your experience. Learning from our customers with disabilities is one of the best ways we have to gauge our service and we will do everything possible to bring about positive change from what you have told us.”
Problems with airline allergy policies are not uncommon. A similar incident occurred in May 2011 when Matthew Burns of Louisdale, N.S. was denied a seat on Air Canada in Halifax, on route to Fiji, when he mentioned his allergy.
Burns says he was not aware of the 48-hour advance policy or the buffer zone. As he was about to head out on a trip, he was unable to even get on the plane.
“They made absolutely no effort to accommodate me and told me I was on my own. And it was a $5000 trip to go to Fiji,” he says.
Burns has flown other airlines since the incident and says policy is not applied consistently.
“Earlier in the year I flew with them to Mexico and I had no problem at that point.”
Similar stories with other airlines are often posted on peanutallergy.com.
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