Almost kicked off FLIGHT! Please help

peyjax

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 8, 2007
Messages
820
It is very hard to articulate my nightmare experience I had just two days ago. For one it seems almost unbelievable and two I am still emotionally in shock.

To sum up my young kids and I were almost kicked off a flight because of my sons PEANUT ALLERGY.

I have written a letter to the airline but feel it almost too emotional. If you could please help me out in tweeking and making it flow better. I would greatly appreciate it.

I have changed some names and such as I would like to wait to see how it is resolved before I scream it from the roof tops!

To whom it may concern,
I am writing this to make you aware of my horrific flight experience.

My name is
I was on flight #. I was traveling alone with my two young children (age2) and (age 5). My youngest son has a peanut allergy.

I know from speaking with flight attendants on previous flights that your airline chooses to continue to serve peanuts despite knowing the dangers it presents. That is their right however as with all handicaps and serious medical conditions I do hold the airline responsible to do their part to make the flight safe.

I tried to do my part to make everyone aware of my son’s allergy. I made a call before my vacation began, I also told the agent at the baggage counter. I then also told the front gate agent. I was told the attendants would be made aware. I stressed cleaning as that seems to be the main issue.

After boarding the plane and stowing my personal bags under the seat. I noticed peanuts everywhere. Not fragments as I realize they are hard to get up, but whole peanuts. It appeared that there were bags that had been dropped and never been cleaned up by the previous flight.

I quickly made an attendant aware of the situation. The attendant asked me what I expected her to do. I was quickly made to feel I was causing a huge inconvenience. So the attendant asked me “Is that what you want me to do. Stop boarding the plane, delaying everyone to have it cleaned.” I said yes or we can risk him having a serious reaction mid air and having to land and really make everyone late. She said fine that she would take care of it.

About five minutes later two men came back to talk with me. The one gentleman was very understanding and assured me he would do his best to resolve the situation. I was asked to disembark the plane while they cleaned.

We left the plane and waited on the ramp. Another man came around the corner. John Doe the flight supervisor, abruptly told me that they can not guarantee a peanut free flight. He came off very coarse and rude. I told him I was aware of that however I do feel Delta does hold some accountability in keeping the plane at least clean before boarding. I told him I made at least three people aware before boarding and (was brushed off.)

Obviously I was a little upset because of the way I was treated by the flight attendant and embarrassed because a delay was caused. My voice was raised but certainly not yelling. The man (JOHN Doe) told me to lower my voice and stop yelling. He told me to stop treating him like a child. I had only said about three sentences so I was completely confused. The man continued to berate me. Asking me why I could not talk to him like a normal human being. I told him that I would just rather not talk and wait for the plane to be cleaned. I knew that there was no talking to him and to just wait. He then informed me if I could not talk to him I would need to get off the flight. I asked if he was the Pilot and he said no, but he was the one that could kick me off the plane. I was extremely puzzled as I was not pursuing a fight with him I just did not want to talk to him. He was not used to this. I was emotional and trying to keep my composure. I asked him to please leave me alone and then began to cry. He then directed me up the tunnel and told me I was not getting on this flight. I again apologized and pleaded with him to allow me to fly and that I would get my self together.

PLEASE understand I was not attacking him I just began to cry because he continued to belitte me. He said fine we will just wait for the plane to be cleaned.

I stood against the wall and waited. John Doe was not happy with this and continued to make comments. I knew that this was a losing battle for me and that I needed to keep my mouth shut so I could get on that plane. John Doe continued to make comments. I was not sure why he expected me to be quiet but he himself did not know how. His comments included “What is wrong with your generation? You expect everything to be handed to you? None of you know how to carry on a conversation” I was completely perplexed by this. This man was no more than 2-5 years older than I.

He continued on to humiliate me with saying “Look at you over there against the wall with your hands behind your back acting like a child”. “Learn to talk like a grown up.” I continued my silence because I knew if I said anything I would not get on that plane. I just wanted to get home.

I again said please leave me alone. That only enraged him even more. He continued. “Look at you and your a mom. What a horrible mother!” he continued “I feel sorry for these kids, they have no hope” he stated in a fake sadness. My mouth stood agape and he realized he crossed the line. I was in disbelief that this just happened. He then headed up the ramp.

I remained quiet because I knew I needed to get on that plane. I felt as if I lived in a communist society where people were berated and not allowed to defend themselves. If they did they would be exiled.

The worst part was that he was alone with me. I stood in disbelief that this was happening all the while knowing that it was his word against mine. I knew I had no choice but to be quiet. Not once did I attack him or say one derogatory statement to him. No one should ever have to be subjected to verbal abuse as I was by your employee John Doe!

As I write this letter I still remain in shock that employees of a company that serves the public could behave in this manner. I realize the airlines deal with irrational and angry customers daily. I was not one of those. The situation would have never happened had the plane been cleaned properly. Having an employee who escalates situations for his personal satisfaction instead of acting like a professional is no doubt only going to continue to create problem.

I find it shocking that my requests for a peanut caution were ignored and that I was made to feel belittled for looking out for my sons health and well being. This should have never happened!
 
I don't have any advise, I just wanted to say I am sorry you were treated so bad and I would go to the top with this, I would also avoid any Delta Flight in the future. I have only flown Midwest lately, they give cookies not peanuts, would that be better?
 
I think the letter is good and you absolutely did the right thing by asking it to be cleaned! I am so sorry this happened to you. My son got kicked out of preschool a few weeks before it started because of PA. He had since outgrown it, thankfully, so I hope yours outgrows it too!!!:goodvibes
 
Your letter is well thought out, you state the facts as you remember them, include your feelings but are not overly emotional. It's a good letter. Good luck to you. {{{hugs}}}
 

I flew Delta a couple of weeks ago and was surpised to see they still do peanuts. It seems like it would be so much simpler just to do pretzels or something.
cheaper too
Sorry you had such a bad experience. I would follow up on it as much as possible
 
Can you son get sick from just looking at peanuts? If they were on the floor and he wasn't eating them how would he have got sick
 
Not the OP but yes, I do believe that people can become sick from touching peanuts.
 
It was wrong for their employees to talk with you in that manner and I think it is OK to bring that to their attention. But since you asked for help, I don't think that your letter will get that much sympathy from the airline. Just my opinion, but I think that you come across as asking for something beyond the ordinary and then getting upset when that wasn't done. If you had already made them aware and their response was that they would continue to serve the rest of the guests peanuts then I think that it would have been wiser to choose another method of transportation. I think that since you had the special need, it was your responsiblity to remove the threat to your son. That doesn't excuse the things their employees said but it explains why they thought you were being unreasonable. The airline is also responsible to the other passengers who have other rights that you might not appreciate as much as your own circumstances. It could have been very critical for the flight to board and leave in a timely manner. A flight delayed for extra cleaning could cause others to miss their connections or possibly even affected the schedules of many other flights. I'm not saying that your son's health isn't important but it is your responsiblilty not the airline's. It would have been much better for everyone if the employees from the beginning had told you that special accommodations would not be possible on a public flight and had let you make other arrangements.
 
"I felt as if I lived in a communist society where people were berated and not allowed to defend themselves. If they did they would be exiled. "

I would take out this part. I like the calm tone of the rest of your letter, especially that you quoted the man. I think this part is obviously more emotional and just takes away from the calm tone and all the straight facts you presented in the rest of the letter.

Its one thing for a Mom to take precautions for a flight where peanuts are served, its another quite another for the whole plane to be so filthy you can see whole peices of peanuts :sick: yuckers. Hopefully you get a response.
 
Wait, this was Delta????

I know on the Delta flight we were on to/from CIN/MCO they made an announcement that there was a person with a peanut allergy and that items containing peanuts would not be served in rows X to X. They made sure to keep that area clean as well.

I think your letter stated the facts and needs to be sent. There was no reason for the crew member to act that way.
 
Some kids who are highly allergic can become sick from the dust.

I ran a preschool program in a church and we had a child who was allergic. His mom believed he just could not eat them and one day we were doing an activity with peanut butter. She assured me it was fine. He was supervised and did not eat any but he had a terrible reaction.

After that we no longer did that activity or any others including peanut butter. This was a long time ago before peanut allergy information was as prevalent as it is now.

Liz
 
I have been fortunate enough that my children do not have any food allergies so I don't fully understand. Were the peanuts in your seating area? Doesn't there have to be some form of contact for an allergic reaction? I guess if the fear of peanuts was really that bad, I would have flown with another airline. I'm sure you are done with Delta. In any case, you should send your letter on. Airline employees should not be going out of their way to stress out the passengers. That was very wrong of them.
 
Just wanted to offer support to the OP for how you were treated. There's no excuse for berating another person, especially when the person is a customer. That being said, I think you should consider their stance on peanuts when you book your next flight and choose another airline. There are enough of them that choose to be peanut free, and you should spend your money there. Good luck in getting satisfaction from Delta. You deserve an apology from that employee at the very least.
 
It is very hard to articulate my nightmare experience I had just two days ago. For one it seems almost unbelievable and two I am still emotionally in shock.

To sum up my young kids and I were almost kicked off a flight because of my sons PEANUT ALLERGY.

I have written a letter to the airline but feel it almost too emotional. If you could please help me out in tweeking and making it flow better. I would greatly appreciate it.

I have changed some names and such as I would like to wait to see how it is resolved before I scream it from the roof tops!

To whom it may concern,
I am writing this to make you aware of my horrific flight experience.

My name is
I was on flight #. I was traveling alone with my two young children (age2) and (age 5). My youngest son has a peanut allergy.

I know from speaking with flight attendants on previous flights that your airline chooses to continue to serve peanuts despite knowing the dangers it presents. That is their right however as with all handicaps and serious medical conditions I do hold the airline responsible to do their part to make the flight safe.

I tried to do my part to make everyone aware of my son’s allergy. I made a call before my vacation began, I also told the agent at the baggage counter. I then also told the front gate agent. I was told the attendants would be made aware. I stressed cleaning as that seems to be the main issue.

After boarding the plane and stowing my personal bags under the seat. I noticed peanuts everywhere. Not fragments as I realize they are hard to get up, but whole peanuts. It appeared that there were bags that had been dropped and never been cleaned up by the previous flight.

I quickly made an attendant aware of the situation. The attendant asked me what I expected her to do. I was quickly made to feel I was causing a huge inconvenience. So the attendant asked me “Is that what you want me to do. Stop boarding the plane, delaying everyone to have it cleaned.” I said yes or we can risk him having a serious reaction mid air and having to land and really make everyone late. She said fine that she would take care of it.

About five minutes later two men came back to talk with me. The one gentleman was very understanding and assured me he would do his best to resolve the situation. I was asked to disembark the plane while they cleaned.

We left the plane and waited on the ramp. Another man came around the corner. John Doe the flight supervisor, abruptly told me that they can not guarantee a peanut free flight. He came off very coarse and rude. I told him I was aware of that however I do feel Delta does hold some accountability in keeping the plane at least clean before boarding. I told him I made at least three people aware before boarding and (was brushed off.)

Obviously I was a little upset because of the way I was treated by the flight attendant and embarrassed because a delay was caused. My voice was raised but certainly not yelling. The man (JOHN Doe) told me to lower my voice and stop yelling. He told me to stop treating him like a child. I had only said about three sentences so I was completely confused. The man continued to berate me. Asking me why I could not talk to him like a normal human being. I told him that I would just rather not talk and wait for the plane to be cleaned. I knew that there was no talking to him and to just wait. He then informed me if I could not talk to him I would need to get off the flight. I asked if he was the Pilot and he said no, but he was the one that could kick me off the plane. I was extremely puzzled as I was not pursuing a fight with him I just did not want to talk to him. He was not used to this. I was emotional and trying to keep my composure. I asked him to please leave me alone and then began to cry. He then directed me up the tunnel and told me I was not getting on this flight. I again apologized and pleaded with him to allow me to fly and that I would get my self together.

PLEASE understand I was not attacking him I just began to cry because he continued to belitte me. He said fine we will just wait for the plane to be cleaned.

I stood against the wall and waited. John Doe was not happy with this and continued to make comments. I knew that this was a losing battle for me and that I needed to keep my mouth shut so I could get on that plane. John Doe continued to make comments. I was not sure why he expected me to be quiet but he himself did not know how. His comments included “What is wrong with your generation? You expect everything to be handed to you? None of you know how to carry on a conversation” I was completely perplexed by this. This man was no more than 2-5 years older than I.

He continued on to humiliate me with saying “Look at you over there against the wall with your hands behind your back acting like a child”. “Learn to talk like a grown up.” I continued my silence because I knew if I said anything I would not get on that plane. I just wanted to get home.

I again said please leave me alone. That only enraged him even more. He continued. “Look at you and your a mom. What a horrible mother!” he continued “I feel sorry for these kids, they have no hope” he stated in a fake sadness. My mouth stood agape and he realized he crossed the line. I was in disbelief that this just happened. He then headed up the ramp.

I remained quiet because I knew I needed to get on that plane. I felt as if I lived in a communist society where people were berated and not allowed to defend themselves. If they did they would be exiled.

The worst part was that he was alone with me. I stood in disbelief that this was happening all the while knowing that it was his word against mine. I knew I had no choice but to be quiet. Not once did I attack him or say one derogatory statement to him. No one should ever have to be subjected to verbal abuse as I was by your employee John Doe!

As I write this letter I still remain in shock that employees of a company that serves the public could behave in this manner. I realize the airlines deal with irrational and angry customers daily. I was not one of those. The situation would have never happened had the plane been cleaned properly. Having an employee who escalates situations for his personal satisfaction instead of acting like a professional is no doubt only going to continue to create problem.

I find it shocking that my requests for a peanut caution were ignored and that I was made to feel belittled for looking out for my sons health and well being. This should have never happened!


I'm so sorry you were treated badly by this employee. In my experience, emotional responses to the employee's comments don't matter much to the person that will be reading this letter. They are looking for cold, hard facts and your suggestion for a resolution/compensation. Also, the bolded part above should read, "...you're a mom." Not trying to pick on you, but grammmatical errors will affect your credibility.
Hope your little ones had an OK trip.
 
That's insane.
I never would have flown with them in the first place, but that completely does not excuse the attitude of that horrible employee...I'm so sorry you went through this.

(I also agree to take out the communist comment!)
 
It was wrong for their employees to talk with you in that manner and I think it is OK to bring that to their attention. But since you asked for help, I don't think that your letter will get that much sympathy from the airline. Just my opinion, but I think that you come across as asking for something beyond the ordinary and then getting upset when that wasn't done. If you had already made them aware and their response was that they would continue to serve the rest of the guests peanuts then I think that it would have been wiser to choose another method of transportation. I think that since you had the special need, it was your responsiblity to remove the threat to your son. That doesn't excuse the things their employees said but it explains why they thought you were being unreasonable. The airline is also responsible to the other passengers who have other rights that you might not appreciate as much as your own circumstances. It could have been very critical for the flight to board and leave in a timely manner. A flight delayed for extra cleaning could cause others to miss their connections or possibly even affected the schedules of many other flights. I'm not saying that your son's health isn't important but it is your responsiblilty not the airline's. It would have been much better for everyone if the employees from the beginning had told you that special accommodations would not be possible on a public flight and had let you make other arrangements.

Thank you for your response. Even though it is hard to hear varying view sometimes. I appreciate your responce. I am well aware of the need for a plane to leave on time. In order for that to happen. People must and should do thier job. Yes that includes the cleaning crew. I do not feel I was asking for unreasonable expectations to have the plane cleaned properly. Once again I stated the fact that it was whole peanuts all over the floor. That is not doing thier job initially. You are right it is my responsability for my sons health, but like I stated in the letter the airline also has a responsibility.
 
I think this is beyond the allergy thing.

This is about how she was treated. There is NO reason for an employee in the service industry to berate and insult a customer. You are right OP, the airlines have the flying public by the you know what. You have to do what they say or you are off the flight and screwed. Normally I would be of the opinion that you just deal with it but this is beyond the normal inconvience of flight travel and into humiliation. Please send that letter.
 
We do not identify my son as peanut allergic for fear of being refused boarding. It's not that uncommon. I'm not surprised they weren't willing to clean the plane. However, that in no way excuses the way you were treated by an airline employee. That's horrible!

What we do is research what is being served on board and only fly on airlines that don't serve whole peanuts. No one guarantees peanut free because they could substitute OR passengers bring peanuts on, but many have listed on their websites what they generally serve. If they serve something that is a "may contain" or "made on the same equip" we are comfortable with him in the plane, he just can't eat the snack. We would not be comfortable with him on a plane with peanuts all over either.

Researching what airlines serve can be an issue - whatever you do don't ask on the DIS. My son got threatened a few years ago when I dared, but that's another thread. (I think that poster is gone now or has changed her name AGAIN.)
 
I think this is beyond the allergy thing.

This is about how she was treated. There is NO reason for an employee in the service industry to berate and insult a customer. You are right OP, the airlines have the flying public by the you know what. You have to do what they say or you are off the flight and screwed. Normally I would be of the opinion that you just deal with it but this is beyond the normal inconvience of flight travel and into humiliation. Please send that letter.

You are certainly right. If it had been just the peanut thing. I would have written a nice little letter expressing my concern. End of story. It was the way I was treated. To be told those things and not say anything back was very difficult.

I chose this airline as I have thier skymiles card and I always personally thought they were a cut above the rest in the airlines. They were always my preference for years. My son is very young so I am learning.
 












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