How to Deal With Allergies When Flying

When 200 people are packed into an airplane’s cramped confines, competing interests can quickly arise.

People allergic to animal dander or saliva can experience “fur of flying” if seated near someone with a service or emotional support animal. Those with nut allergies probably recoil when the person in the adjacent seat starts eating a peanut butter granola bar.

Allergy sufferers have rights while flying, but so do passengers with support animals and people who pack products containing peanuts for a snack. What happens in such situations?

Jenna Riemenschneider, director of advocacy for the Maryland-based Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, said passengers with allergies and service animals both are protected by the Americans With Disabilities and the Air Carrier Access acts.

“There is equal protection,” she said. “We just wish it would be more uniformly managed. Based on anecdotal evidence, things seem to vary based on the airline or the flight attendant you’re dealing with.”

Riemenschneider said the foundation has heard of extreme instances in which allergic passengers have been removed from flights after complaining about being seated next to a service or emotional support animal.

Spokespersons for Southwest and American, the airlines that handle nearly half of the travelers at Pittsburgh International Airport, declined to be interviewed