Should Passengers With Rare Dangerous Allergies Have Priority Over Everyone Else Aboard an Airplane?

Bethenny Frankel was reportedly shamed earlier this year for requesting that members of the flight crew aboard the airplane on which she was a passenger not serve fish at all during the flight because she suffers from a rare fish allergy which could result in serious injury to her — or even her death.

Should Passengers With Rare Dangerous Allergies Have Priority Over Everyone Else Aboard an Airplane?

Frankel wrote via Twitter that she called the airline multiple times to say that she is allergic to fish — but members of the flight crew were serving bass while she was aboard the airplane. After they told Frankel that they could not not serve the fish dish. In a display of compassion for fellow passengers, she then protested when they were turning the airplane around because it would delay them. Members of the flight crew were then asked to not serve the fish; and the pilot announced the decision via the public address system aboard the airplane.

Called airline mult x to say I have fish allergy. Got on & they’re serving bass. They couldn’t not serve it they said. Then they were turning around which I protested bc it would delay people. Cabin asked to not serve it & pilot made announcement to plane. That was fun. #epilife

— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) January 3, 2019

I have rare fish allergy. Sun,I had soup,itched & was unconscious for 15 mins then to ER & ICU for 2 days w BP of 60/40.I couldn’t talk,see, thought I had a stroke & dying & told if 5 mins later I’d be dead. 911 & EPI saved me.I’ll never not carry an #epipen @newtonwellesley xo

— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) December 18, 2018

People suggested that if Frankel suffers from such a severe allergy, perhaps she should not fly as a passenger aboard airplanes — but is that really a fair solution; or is there a way to prevent someone from suffering from anaphylaxis shock from what could be the mere presence of food to which that person is allergic?

One Recent Example of Death From a Fish Allergy

Camron Jean-Pierre was only eleven years old when he suddenly died in a house — only mere city blocks from the Brooklyn neighborhood where I grew up — after suffering a possible allergic reaction to the smell of cooking fish on Tuesday, January 1, 2019.

“Family rushed to revive the boy, who had a known allergy to fish”, according to this article written by Stephanie Pagones, Larry Celona and Sydney Denmark for the New York Post. “They hooked him up to a machine that they’d hoped would treat the severe reaction and the boy’s father called 911, police and sources said.”

The boy was rushed by Emergency Medical Services to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center at the corner of Linden Boulevard and Rockaway Parkway just north of Canarsie; but he unfortunately could not be saved in time.

Going Too Far?

I read this message which Frankel posted on Twitter; and here is where I draw the line:

1)I called ahead mult x 2)fish cooked in plane NOT the same as restaurant.3)been allergic since birth to fish NOT shellfish 4)plane didn’t turn bc cabin voted 5)pilot called me out to whole plane 6)airlines should NOT serve airborne allergens. & 7)who the F wants fish on a plane?

— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) January 4, 2019

1)I called ahead mult x 2)fish cooked in plane NOT the same as restaurant.3)been allergic since birth to fish NOT shellfish 4)plane didn’t turn bc cabin voted 5)pilot called me out to whole plane 6)airlines should NOT serve airborne allergens. & 7)who the F wants fish on a plane?

I want fish aboard an airplane. I have always enjoyed fish aboard an airplane. I want to continue to enjoy fish aboard an airplane. I never got sick from fish aboard an airplane. How many times can I write the phrase fish aboard an airplane?

Statements such as that can potentially tarnish the tireless work by people such as Lianne Mandelbaum — who is the founder of The No Nut Traveler and is a staunch advocate of the rights of airline passengers who suffer from allergies related to food. She believes that the time is long overdue that we directly face “the realities of preventing life-threatening anaphylaxis in the air, and the necessity for easy-to-use auto-injectors and crew training.”

Summary

If an airline offers seafood amongst the options for special meals, I usually select it because I enjoy seafood — and usually, that seafood is some form of fish.

Unlike this scene from the classic 1980 movie Airplane! in which everyone who ate fish became violently ill, I have never felt sick after eating fish…

…and if someone does not like fish, does not want to eat fish or cannot eat fish, that choice is his or her right — even if it is not a option.

I have no problem foregoing dining on fish aboard an airplane as a courtesy to any fellow passengers who suffer from allergies pertaining to fish; but Frankel lost credibility with me with that one line of “who the F wants fish on a plane?”, as I believe that went too far and displayed what appeared to be an inordinate sense of entitlement. Frankel could have left out that last question and her point would have still been expressed in its proper context.

As for people who suffer from serious food allergies, I do not believe that they should never fly as passengers aboard airplanes which are operated by commercial airlines — in fact, I agree with Lianne Mandelbaum that people who suffer from food allergies should have access to safe travel for many reasons — but I do believe that some compromise is in order with respect to other passengers, if that is possible…

…but I would like to know of your opinion as to whether passengers with rare dangerous allergies should have priority over everyone else aboard an airplane. Please post your thoughts in the Comments section below.

In the meantime, other articles which I have written pertaining to food allergies over the years include:

• Lessons Learned From Food Allergy Tragedy Aboard an Airplane
• Peanut Allergy Policies of Airlines: An Updated Comprehensive List 2018
• Are Frequent Fliers Contributing to The Great Nutrition Collapse?
• Preventing Peanut Allergies: Hope for the Future?
• From the Peanut Gallery: Should Food Allergies Determine What is Served Aboard Airplanes?
• Should Airlines Provide Nutrition Information With the Food They Serve During Flights?
• Peanut Allergy of Son Results in Family Leaving the Airplane Prior to Flight
• A Patch to Deal With Peanut Allergies?
• Nut Allergies: Both Sides of This Issue In the News
• Southwest Airlines to No Longer Serve Peanuts Aboard Its Airplanes
• Should Airlines Be Required to Equip Airplanes With Epinephrine Autoinjectors?
• Privacy of Allergy Sufferers Being Abused by Airlines?
• Is the Food Allergy Policy of American Airlines Considered Discriminatory?
• No Nuts? Are They Nuts?!?

All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.