Robert Palmer, WestJet’s manager of public relations, spoke with Allergic Living’s Gwen Smith this week about the details of his airline’s new forward-thinking food allergy policy.

Allergic Living: I have to start by asking: Why did WestJet make these few policy changes that are quite groundbreaking in terms of food allergy accommodation?

Robert Palmer: “I think the Allergic Living write-in campaign [to WestJet and Air Canada] made us aware that this was perhaps a more serious issue within the allergy community than we may have thought. And that’s the role of allergy advocacy.

“As an airline, we try always to strike a balance based on the information we have, to make the best decisions we can at the time. But that’s not to say that we ever have all of the information that we need, and so it was helpful to have brought this to our attention.

“[That] caused us to take a serious look at whether our policy was the best that it could be, given that we have so many constituencies to serve within our guest community. That’s always the challenge.”

AL: It’s pleasantly surprising to hear that the voices of the community made a difference.

RP: “Well, policies are living, breathing documents and we need to look at them when new information arises that suggests perhaps a change is in order. With respect to the work Allergic Living did, that’s what raised the profile of the issue. The letters [from the allergy community] made a big difference. I still have them at my desk. They’re a constant reminder that this is an extremely important issue.”

AL mentions that people won’t be aware, but WestJet’s talks with the allergy community – including allergy groups and well-known allergists and organized by Anaphylaxis Canada – about potential policy changes have gone on intermittently since last March. WestJet discussed in the talks that it was complicated both with internal communcations and in a highly regulated industry to make sure something as simple as a one-minute p.a. announcement could be done.

RP: “They (Transport Canada) don’t care if we say: ‘And happy birthday to Ted in Row 6C’, but if we’re going to institutionalize a formal announcement as part of our ‘suite of announcements’, it has to be approved and then translated (English and French). And then it has to go into the Flight Attendants’ Manual or FAM.”

Booking with Allergy Accommodations

AL: Let’s talk about some of the specifics of flying under your new policy. With booking, you need to go through the Reservations centre?

RP: “Yes. They can identify themselves as having the nut or peanut allergy, and then a special coding will be put on their file that identifies them as having that allergy.

AL: But should you still tell Reservations every time if it’s on your file?

RP: “I would, just to be on the safe side.”

AL: So Reservations is aware of the allergy accommodations request. Now the person is boarding. When do you approach the flight attendant about the p.a. announcement?

RP: “I would do it as quickly as possible either while boarding or while people are getting settled but before the doors close. The flight attendants have got a few minutes because they’re walking up and down the aisles, helping people stow their bags. That’s the time.”

AL: Do you need to alert the crew at the gate before boarding.

RP: “I’m not sure there’s much point as those people are not going to be on the flight.”

Next: Buffer Zones and EpiPens

This won’t be a big deal to most of WestJet’s passengers, but that little announcement is a huge deal to those who travel with serious peanut or tree nut allergies.

A p.a. announcement asking other passengers to “please refrain from eating” certain allergenic foods and was one of two key recommendations in Allergic Living’s “Reduce the Risk” write-in campaign, in which 1,100 Canadians wrote letters to the chief executives of both WestJet and Air Canada. The other was for clear, consistent policies, communicated to airline staff.

That lobby carried weight with WestJet, the airline’s longtime spokesman makes clear. The campaign “raised the profile of the issue; the letters made a big difference,” says Robert Palmer. “I still have them at my desk. They’re a constant reminder that this is an extremely important issue,” he says.

So pat yourselves on the back. You did it, allergy community, you got a major airline to listen and understand. And then they acted. Anaphylaxis Canada deserves credit for organizing confidential policy review discussions with WestJet earlier this year. (Talks included the main three allergy groups, allergists and Allergic Living.) That kept the issue of a formal allergy policy in front of executives of a busy airline.

As most of you know, Air Canada also just passed its formal policy. The timing is coincidence. Air Canada was told to finalize a formal policy by the Canadian Transportation Agency and the deadline was December 2. The CTA set out that Air Canada should set rules for an “exclusion” or buffer zone to protect those flying with nut of peanut allergies.

Air Canada complied and now you can request a small zone (where the attendants will ask other passengers not to eat peanuts or nuts) that consists in economy of the row you’re in, the row ahead and behind.

Outside the zone, other passengers can eat what they like and cashews and almonds, which Air Canada contends it can’t ask others to give up, will still be sold from the cart.

But requesting Air Canada’s buffer zone is a cumbersome process, which requires a form filled out by your doctor and faxed to the airline’s medical desk in addition to a call to Reservations to book, makes me wonder how many allergic frequent flyers will request this accommodation.

Still, this is a concession from an airline that flies 31 million passengers a year. It is a beginning. And at least in Canada, there are no peanuts being handed out by the airlines as is still dangerously the case on a few U.S. carriers.

Times have changed, and most airlines still aren’t aware that food allergies, which once were called rare, now affect two million Canadians and up to 12 million Americans – and that’s not counting those who fly with them.

WestJet is the kind of company that chose to hear the allergic community because as Palmer says “it’s the right thing to do.” With a few more executives with that attitude, with more awareness of the speed with which anaphylaxis can take hold, and with the strength of our community’s numbers, I truly hope the leadership shown by WestJet this week will be emulated by other airlines over the next couple of years.

It will take consistent reporting to the airlines – whatever airline – of any reactions allergic passengers experience onboard. (Better data is needed, so if you’re unfortunate enough to react – do tell the head office.)

And my friends, keep those letter-writing skills sharpened. It will take more campaigns, more negotiations, but greater allergy accommodations in the skies can happen.

For today, WestJet “gets” that safety trumps a handful of nuts for a couple of hours on a plane. And tomorrow? Others will, too.

This is a unique and progressive step – a majority of airlines only carry a vial of epinephrine and a syringe to use in an emergency involving an allergic reaction.

Since anaphylaxis is a condition that can escalate in minutes to include serious respiratory or blood-pressure symptoms, the availability of an emergency auto-injector, especially in an environment at 35,000 feet, is a move is being warmly received by the allergy community.

“We commend WestJet and King Pharmaceuticals [the makers of EpiPen] for working together on this initiative and trying to provide for greater safety for those passengers flying with allergies,” said Beatrice Povolo, spokesperson for Anaphylaxis Canada.

While allergic individuals are ALWAYS advised to carry their own auto-injectors onboard, a backup in the emergency medical kit is wise because:

- epinephrine shots can wear off and secondary reactions (often as serious) occur in up to 25 per cent of reactions.
- an individual could forget their auto-injectors and begin having a reaction to a food in the air.
- in the event that a shot is not correctly administered, there is a backup.
- many children or adults develop allergies. Anecdotal reports show that first-time reactions in the air do happen.

Next: read the full media release

First – to all of you who took part in Allergic Living’s “Reduce the Risk” airlines campaign, thank you for the support. We had a remarkable outpouring of response; over 1,000 personalized copies of Allergic Living’s form letter were couriered to the CEOs of both Air Canada and WestJet.

Through the CEOs’ representatives, WestJet and Air Canada both confirm that they are reviewing the suggestions made in the Allergic Living letters. I’ll be frank: they make us no promises, but nor do they say “no” to what we’ve collectively put forward.

To recap, the changes we suggested to the two airlines include:

- A process at time of booking to make the airline aware of a serious food allergy, and a means to confirm that notification with gate and flight crews.

- With that notice, a p.a. announcement could be made in the departure area advising passengers that a fellow passenger has life-threatening allergies and asking them to please refrain from eating the top allergen(s) in question.

- With notice, a flight crew would not serve snacks or menu items containing identified top allergens as ingredients.

- At the start of the flight, the crew could make another announcement asking passengers to refrain from eating certain highly allergenic food(s).

Robert Palmer, WestJet’s Public Relations Manager, told me: “We’re still in discussions here about the feasibility of the various suggestions [from the campaign]. I’m not going to tell you which way we’re leaning because it would be wrong to set expectations.” He said there have been two meetings at which representatives of different WestJet departments were given tasks to research on allergy accommodations: everything from legalities to whether computer systems could track a reported serious allergy from the check-in counter to the flight crew.

“We take [the letters] seriously, we acknowledge that there’s certainly a desire on the part of sufferers with serious allergies to have some sort of announcements made,” said Palmer. “The bottom line is: ‘Is that feasible for us? If the answer to that question is yes, then we need to sit down and figure it out with you [and experts]. But we’re still at the stage of: ‘Is that feasible? Is that viable?’”

At Air Canada, John Reber, the Director of Media Relations, said that as an “initial response,” letter writers should know that the airline was “carefully studying the proposals.” He noted that: “A thorough evaluation of your proposal requires input from a number of experts representing different aspects of an airline’s safety, health, regulatory, operations and customer service areas.” He said it would take some time to get a detailed response – but indicated no timeline. Allergic Living will be following up with both the airlines.

So that’s all for now – (the original campaign letter is below). I’ll publish future updates about the campaign on the Forum, under the Travel thread. One last thing: keep communicating with the airlines. If you fly, request accommodations for serious food allergies. And if you or your child has a reaction, take the time to report it. The more the airlines hear of the seriousness of food allergy risks, the more likely they’ll be moved to accommodate.

Thanks again.

Gwen Smith
Editor, Allergic Living magazine

Next: Letter to the Airline CEOs