Korean Air keeps teens off their flight because of an allergy to nuts, leaving them stranded in South Korea

Two teens were deported from a Korean Air flight after informing the ground crew of their severe peanut allergy. The story has raised questions about how airlines should handle these situations.

What are the details?

The boys traveled from Atlanta to Manila via Seoul to visit their father in the Philippines. They booked the ticket with Delta and informed the airline in advance of their serious allergy. The 14-hour flight between Atlanta and Seoul operated by Delta was not a problem, as the nuts were not served on board.

Upon arrival at the boarding gate for the Korean Air-to-Seoul correspondence flight, the boys briefed the agents of allergy entry points and asked them three things:

• board early in the flight to clean the trays and the edges of the seats
• ask flight attendants to make an announcement to other passengers so that they do not consume their own nut-based snacks during the flight
• ask flight attendants not to serve nut-based snacks around them.

At first, it seemed that the reception officers had accepted these requests, since the boys had been allowed to board early to clean their seats. When the boys entered the aircraft, they claimed that the crew had an unpleasant choice: to occupy peanuts or get off the flight. The crew claimed that it would not "deprive peanuts for other guests" and seemed indifferent to their allergy.

In the end, the boys were forced to leave the Korean Air flight, leaving them stranded in Seoul. The family decided that it was best that the boys return to Atlanta later in the day.

Delta was made aware of the situation and apologized by declaring

"Delta and our partner Korean Air communicate with the family and review the processes surrounding this incident. we will use our findings in our work to create a consistent experience for Delta's customers and partner airlines. "

Korean Air also issued a statement regarding the incident, stating that

"Korean Air is aware that peanut and food allergies are a problem for the industry and no airline can guarantee an environment free of food allergies. But we are looking at ways to deal with this problem safely and practically. We fully understand the risks to which passengers with food and nut allergies are exposed and we will certainly try to better manage them in the future. "

The way in which airlines deal with nut allergies can vary greatly from carrier to carrier. Delta and American Airlines allow all nut-allergic passengers to pre-ship to wipe the area around their seats. Last year, Southwest announced that it would stop serving peanuts on its flights.

Conclusion

Although it is recognized that it is impossible to guarantee a completely nut-free environment on board, the standard for airlines should be to best accommodate passengers.

How should airlines deal with nut allergies? Let us know in the comments!