A British TV star has claimed her family was treated in a “disgusting” way after they told airline staff about their daughter’s severe nut allergy.
BBC weather presenter Georgie Palmer boarded a SunExpress flight from London Gatwick to Dalaman Turkey on Tuesday May 21, the BBC reported.
She was travelling with her husband Nick Sollom and their two daughters, Rosie, 12, and Annie, 14.
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One of her daughters has a severe peanut allergy and the mum asked flight attendants to make an announcement asking fellow travellers not to consume nuts as it could cause potentially fatal anaphylactic shock in her daughter.
According to the BBC, Palmer says the staff on the plane refused to make the announcement, so she was forced to ask other passengers not to eat nuts during the flight.
She alleges that everyone she approached agreed.
However, Palmer says that when the captain of the flight was told she was approaching passengers, he ordered Palmer and her family to get off the plane immediately.
She wrote in a social media post: ”The SunExpress captain and cabin crew refused to make the standard announcement on behalf of our daughter. We gently asked the passengers at the front of the plane to share our request.
“Row by row, all the passengers turned back to kindly ask the row behind to please not eat nuts on the flight. It was calm, earnest and with an overwhelming sense of solidarity and empathy.”
But then the situation escalated, according to Palmer.
She said when the captain found out she had been speaking to other passengers, he ordered her family off the plane.
“We were hoofed off the plane after the angry little captain shouted at us from the cockpit,” she wrote.
The family booked into an airport hotel and took an Easyjet flight to Turkey the next day, costing them an additional $A9500.
“How we were treated was disgusting — nobody working on that plane showed one ounce of compassion,” Palmer claimed, per The Sun.
The BBC weather presenter said the majority of the other passengers on the plane had “no beef” with her request and hugged and held the family’s hands as they were forced to disembark.
She shared a photo of other passengers waving for the camera as they did so.
Palmer said her family had “over a decade of experience” in making the no-peanut request when flying and told her followers to “watch this space” as she followed up with SunExpress.
SunExpress statement
In a statement provided to The Sun, the airline said it took passenger safety “very seriously”.
“Shortly after boarding our flight, the passenger raised a concern about one of his family group having a serious peanut allergy,” the statement read, referring to Palmer’s husband.
“They requested an announcement to other passengers. We refrain from making these kinds of announcements.
“Like many other airlines, we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment on our flights.
“Nor can we prevent other passengers from bringing food items containing allergens on board.
“Due to the insistent behaviour of the passenger to others on board, the captain decided it would be safest if the family did not travel.
“When this was explained to the passenger, he behaved aggressively towards our crew members and tried to gain access to the cockpit.
“To ensure the safety of our crew and our passengers on board, we cannot tolerate aggressive and unruly behaviour on our flights.
“Our website states that passengers must notify us 48 hours in advance of any special care required due to a medical condition.
“No such notification was received from the passengers in this instance.”
The airline spokesperson said SunExpress understood it was an “upsetting situation” for the family.
“We are taking the incident as an opportunity to conduct a review of the information provided during our booking process,” they said.
“This will ensure more effective solutions for passengers with allergies.”
‘Absolute nonsense’
Speaking to BBC London, Palmer said the claim that her husband had acted aggressively or tried to barge into the cockpit was “absolute nonsense”.
“It’s simply not true,” she said.
“There was no aggressive behaviour from us.”
She added she tried to contact SunExpress before getting on the flight but found it hard to get hold of someone from the airline.
“My ask is for the airline industry as a whole to take notice of this,” Palmer said.
“What are your policies about nuts — make that crystal clear on your website.
“Allow your passengers the choice to know whether it is safe to fly with you.
“As we know you can never enforce an entirely nut-free environment – can we not take a leaf out of the book of restaurants who go to great efforts these days to protect people?”
UK-based airlines including British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair and Jet2 say that on request, cabin crew will make an announcement and they will not serve nuts.