Delta Airlines is one of the leading airlines in the United States. With its popularity, Delta should be very good about handling food allergies, right?
Well… not with all my experiences with them.
First of all, I want to say that this post is in no way supposed to be bashing Delta Airlines. They’re the airlines I regularly fly on, and I do feel like they’ve gotten better at handling food allergies in the past couple of years. This post is just sharing my experience, so you know what to expect if you fly on Delta.
I’ve been flying on Delta pretty much all my life. Whenever we have to fly somewhere, we will most likely choose Delta. But are they the best for food allergies?
The first time we flew to Hawaii, we flew with Delta. We contacted them beforehand to let them know I have a peanut and tree nut allergy.
Now, on Delta flights to Hawaii, they usually serve macadamia nuts. This is not good for me because I’m allergic to macadamia nuts; they also fall under the tree nut category, which is why we didn’t specifically state that I’m allergic to macadamia nuts.
Before we boarded the plane, we went to the front desk to make sure they knew I had a nut allergy so they could do any allergy safety procedures that they usually do. They acknowledged the fact that I had a peanut allergy and they said they wouldn’t serve peanuts, but they did not want to acknowledge that I also had a tree nut allergy.
They knew I had a tree nut allergy; we told them right in front of them. They told us that they can’t accommodate tree nut allergies, and that they would still serve their usual trail mixes and macadamia nuts.
There was nothing we could do but board the plane. Thankfully, I don’t react to airborne allergies, so I didn’t worry that much about it. The thing that bothered me the most was that I could smell the nuts all around me. They handed out macadamia nuts to literally every single person on the plane, and every person on the plane started to eat them all around me, so that was pretty annoying.
What annoyed me the most about this is that that is an easy fix. They could’ve easily taken the nuts off the plane or just served them to passengers as they were leaving the plane.
Last time I went to Hawaii was about one year ago, and let me tell you what a different experience Delta was to fly on.
There was a super nice flight attendant who talked to us about my allergies and made sure everything was safe. They didn’t serve any peanuts or (plain) tree nuts, created a buffer zone (buffer zone is where they ask everyone in that zone to not eat tree nuts and peanuts), and they even served the macadamia nuts as we were getting off the plane.
See how easy that was to keep someone with a food allergy safe while flying?
Now, it’s up to you to decide if you want to fly on Delta airlines or not. While six years ago they were oblivious to food allergies, I definitely feel like they are getting better about accommodating those with food allergies, or at least tree nut and peanut allergies.
Again, I can’t speak for all allergies. I personally am allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, and this is my experience with Delta Airlines having those allergies. Your experience may look differently depending on what food allergies you have.
Have you ever flown with Delta Airlines? How was your experience? Leave a comment down below!
*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This article is not supposed to be substituted for medical advice of any kind. I am not liable for any advice that you do or do not take, and I am also not liable for any kind of action that was taken from this article. To read more about why this is here and my other disclaimers, click here.*