A Washington woman is suing Allegiant Air after her son, who has a severe nut allergy, was removed from a flight with her. The incident occurred after a flight attendant refused to stop selling nuts on board. The mother claims the flight attendant insisted on selling the nuts so she wouldn’t lose her commission.
Washington state resident Crystal Shelton has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation. She accuses Allegiant Air of discriminating against her son, who has severe peanut and tree nut allergies. Shelton claims that on July 7, while flying from Chattanooga to Tampa, she and her 8-year-old son were kicked off the plane. It came after a flight attendant ignored her request to stop selling snacks containing nuts to keep her son safe.
According to a post on PYOK’s website, Shelton filed an 11-page complaint detailing the incident. She claims she asked the flight attendant to remove the nuts from sale for the safety of her son, as he is severely allergic to pistachios and pine nuts. One of the flight attendants agreed, but the other became enraged and began taunting Shelton. She allegedly insisted on selling snacks so she wouldn’t lose commissions.
As a result, the crew called Shelton and her son “unruly passengers” and said they were “behaving inappropriately.” They were ordered to leave the plane. After failing to find an alternate Allegiant flight for two days, Shelton had to travel to Atlanta and purchase tickets on another airline. Despite her contacts with Allegiant, she only received a partial refund and a flight credit that she was unable to use due to the company’s attitude.
Shelton noted that some airlines, such as Britain’s easyJet, are taking comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of passengers with severe allergies.
Cursor previously wrote that a passenger wanted to hijack a plane during turbulence.
