Not what an allergy sufferer wants to see

People with peanut allergies have a new champion in the sky now that Air Canada has unveiled plans for a mandatory buffer zone around vulnerable passengers.

Air travel is notoriously troublesome for people with nut allergies as few carriers ban the snacks and re-circulated air heightens the risk of a reaction being triggered.

But the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) now says such barriers to flying are unreasonable, prompting Air Canada to introduce a special buffer zone for sufferers.

Under the agency’s new guidelines, Canadian carriers must treat nut allergies as a bona fide disability.

That means adequate steps must be taken to ensure a sufferer’s condition does not unreasonably impinge on their flight, resulting in the unusual move by Air Canada.

“A buffer zone, including an announcement within that zone, is the appropriate accommodation for persons with disabilities due to their allergy to peanuts or nuts,” the CTA ruling stated.

It noted that in the most extreme cases ingestion is not necessary for a reaction to occur, with the mere presence of nuts in one’s surroundings “enough to cause concern”.

Air Canada passengers will now be informed if they are sitting in close proximity to someone with an allergy, and will be instructed not to consume offending items in such a scenario.

“Passengers within that zone must be notified of the allergy and asked to refrain from eating peanuts or nuts and products that contain them. There is no need to make a general announcement to the entire aircraft.”

While the CTA decision is only binding on Air Canada analysts say it could set a precedent for other carriers, some of whom oblige allergy sufferers to sign an indemnity form.

© Cheapflights Ltd (Creative Commons image: Jon Kraft / Flickr)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 6:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.