Leah Williams was on a Eurowings flight from London to Dusseldorf, Germany, when she noticed that the cabin crew was getting ready to serve snacks to the passengers. Because she suffers from a severe nut allergy, she felt it necessary to let the flight attendants know so they could inform the other passengers about it and refrain from serving peanuts during the flight. She claims that the cabin crew was less than empathetic to her health problems, leaving her no choice but to buy all the packets of peanuts available, just so they couldn’t serve them to other people. She ended up spending $184 on 48 packets of peanuts, almost 3 times the price of her plane ticket. She is now requesting a refund. A Eurowings spokesperson said that the crew offered to inform the passengers around Williams about her condition, and while she first agreed, she changed her mind and decided to buy the peanuts instead. Eurowings claims that it is unable to guarantee that the aircraft is free of foodstuffs that may trigger an allergic reaction, such as peanuts, because passengers are allowed to bring their own food onboard. Furthermore, the company says that despite constant cleaning, they're unable to prevent an accumulation of nut traces, stressing that passengers with nut allergies should bring any medication they might need in their carry-on luggage. It's unclear whether Eurowings plans to reimburse Williams for the cost of the peanuts. According to a scientific study by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, peanut dust is not transmitted through the air, and contact could at most cause slight local irritation.
