Same airline, two different flights and the flight attendants preparedness made a big difference.
Flight attendants and gate agents are your best friends when flying with food allergies.
On June 11th, 2017, we were booked to travel from Freeport, Bahamas to Amsterdam, Netherlands on Delta Airlines. Delta is our airline of choice because they are understanding and willing to work with you to ensure a safe experience.
For our first flight from Freeport to Atlanta we were allowed to board early to clean the seat, I double checked with the flight attendant at the door and confirmed they were informed of this. Fortunately for us there was turbulence and they weren’t able to serve snacks until very late into the flight, literally minutes away from landing. Nuts were served because the flight attendant in charge of the snacks “thought” it was just peanuts. She was to late to react and the people had started eating the nuts already. My son wrapped his head in a scarf and was terrified the remaining time of the flight.
Our next flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was completely different, gate agents were very professional and accommodating, again we boarded earlier, they were informed of the allergy issue, made a loud and clear announcement asking people to refrain from eating any nuts, they actually had some pretzels labeled with the no peanut sign and we had a really good 8 hour flight to Amsterdam.
Regardless of how friendly the airline is I believe it’s really important to engage with the crew and explain the severity of the allergy to make sure that all the information gets across and guarantee the safety of the person with the severe allergies.