flight HB6630 / 10.Feb 2018
At check in we informed ground staff that our 9 year old is hyperallergic to peanuts. already some minor amount or peanut dust in the air is enough to cause an anaphylactic shock to our son. in other words - he could die from it.
ground staff did either not inform or on board staff did completely ignore it.
i know - you cannot forbid anybody to eat peanuts on board of an airplane (which i dont understand anyways) but any decent on-board crew has that covered. when ever we flew lufthansa, cathay, even low price airlines like easy jet or ryan air, they immediately informed the people in the direct surrounding (left,right,front,back of our sons chair, to please not consume peanuts because of his severe allergy by communication. . and so far - ALWAYS everybody totally understood and was happy to help. its common sense, customer care and communication).
when the steward - an older guy with short white hair served drinks - i informed him that i spottet already 3 people directly around my sons chair, eating peanuts and that i asked them politely myself to eat them later. so it would be nice if he would inform the row in front and behind because we are very nervous about it.
he looked at me quite sarcastically and he really said: but i assume you have an epi pen with you and before your son falls in a coma you can give him medicine. i cannot ask people to stop eating peanuts ....
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?
no?
it gets even better
at the end if the flight i asked a guy in the cockpit if we can have a word. so i politely complained and explained in a communicative way that i was not happy at all, how this situation was handled and asked if they know how dangerous this is. peanuts can lead to death in a few minutes and as a parent it was a horrific flight.
the (seemingly higher ranked steward) did not try show any understanding. he complained that i should have come to him - the higher steward. when i told him that they all look pretty much the same to me - he was riding on the topic of steward ranking instead of understanding that the crew behaved completely unprofessional.
The best part was - and I really hope a higher manager of Transavia is reading this - one if the pilots came out - a man with longer grey hair and a short beard. he said:
excuse me to interrupt but i have never heard of any airline that can forbid peanuts to their clients. when i answered: i know - but any decent crew would undertake their best communication to protect the life of a child on board of a plane —— his honest answer was:
first of all - if i would sit next to your child on the back seat i would eat my peanuts with great pleasure next to him and don’t give a damn because i don’t care .
secondly i dont like you on board of MY (?) airplane and this is why i ask you leave right now.
I was no thread and I did not insult anybody. I complained with them (without becoming loud). No reaction of understanding. I was finally attacked by the whole crew that stood in the front. I took hundreds of flights in my life and I visited over 65 countries worldwide.
THIS was the saddest and lowest behavior of a so called air crew and its so called captain I have ever experienced. Shame on you people. You risk a child’s LIFE for your ignorance and you guys will do it over and over again until somebody from the higher management hopefully stops you before children are falling in to a coma.
Not all crews of Transavia are as cruel as the one from today. We had very nice people before. Yet - 30% of all children nowadays have a more or less severe nut or peanut allergy. It should be a standard process to at least INFORM the pax next to.
but to make fun about the fact that my only son could be DEAD because we chose to make him fly TRANSAVIA to madeira - shocked me.
A pilot who tells a client that he would with great pleasure eat a product that will poison eventually children - is at the same time a high ranking person that represents the brand name Transavia and is 1,2 Billion turnover. And the damage he causes to the brand Transavia by the spreading word of this will be so bad - I think his marketing skills dont go far enough to understand HOW badly he damaged the brand tonight. Please explain him.
My advice to all parents - in case they fly with beloved kids to Madeira (i don’t know how the staff towards other destinations handle this) - DO AVOID to chose TRANSAVIA airlines until this crew and mist if all this pilot can do no more harm to children.
