I recently flew Southwest and was surprised to discover the airline still served peanuts. I have three boys, one with a peanut allergy. Yes, I will not be choosing to fly Southwest with my family due to the risk involved for my younger son. His allergy may or may not be life-threatening, according to his pediatrician. That's the way it works with peanut allergy. There are no certainties, it all depends upon exposure. I do know kids who experience respiratory problems when someone else is simply eating a peanut butter sandwich in the same room. The idea of passengers wiping their peanut residue hands on seat belts, seat backs, etc. is simply scary. Southwest will eventually change the policy, because peanut allergy is occurring more frequently in our population and Southwest will lose business as more and more families deal with peanut allergy and simply can't risk flying with Southwest. Sadly, until bottom line sales are affected, I imagine nothing will change. But, one lawsuit or marketing research that comes back indicating the volume of lost business, and pretzels will be in fashion. Or, maybe if someone in a leadership position with Southwest has to worry about someone they love dying from an allergic reaction, the snack menu will change. Yes, I will simply choose not to fly Southwest with my son so people who "love to eat peanuts while riding on an airplane" may continue to enjoy this pleasure. However, I find it disturbing from a humanistic perspective that the idea of inconveniencing peanut lovers is more important to Southwest than the opportunity to better protect a person with a life-threatening allergy. Seems like an odd position for a company to take...
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