A Washington state woman claims she and her son were unfairly removed from an Allegiant Air flight because the son's peanut allergies meant the crew couldn't sell cashews. The family is now demanding change from the Department of Transportation and for the airline to be justly penalized.

A Salty Altercation

On July 7, Crystal Shelton and her eight-year-old son were boarding an Allegiant Air flight from Chattanooga, TN to Tampa, FL. As cited in Shelton's complaint to the Department of Transportation, she had a conversation with a gate agent named "Zach" about her son's severe peanut allergies, and the crew initially agreed to not serve cashews on the flight.

Despite this, a female flight attendant got knowledge of the situation and was "'visibly enraged". Shelton allegedly heard the attendant say "I'm going to get them off this flight". While Crystal and her son were situated in their seats, the attendant was causing a scene, openly expressing that Allegiant's allergy policy doesn't stop attendants from selling cashews and that Shelton "was too stupid to read it". The complaint mentions that the attendant wanted to earn a commission by selling the nuts.

The child was crying during the incident, expressing to Shelton that he was afraid of what the attendant might do next. Shelton called her husband as the drama continued, trying to pay no mind to the attendant.

Following the episode, gate agent Zach got on the plane to talk to Shelton, explaining that the peanuts were stored together with other snacks, likely as an attempt to convince the family to get off the flight. This tactic didn't work, as Shelton mentioned that she and her son wouldn't eat anything on the way to Florida. 

Zach left, only to return again shortly after to inform the family they were being kicked off of the aircraft for being "unruly". When Shelton asked Zach to elaborate, he explained that the child's allergies could cause an emergency landing.

It is apparent that in this DOT case, Zach is taking the side of Shelton and her son, as the complaint further mentioned that Zach didn't believe the family was being unruly and that the flight attendant was making up excuses to get them off the plane.

Allergic To Allegiant

After being removed from the Allegiant flight in Chattanooga, Crystal Shelton and her son had to book another flight and endure an overnight drive to Atlanta, GA, to be able to continue their journey to Tampa.

As for Allegiant Air, the airline refused to offer the family a refund for their plane tickets, instead offering flight credits towards a future flight. The complaint states these credits are of no use to Shelton if her son's food allergies keep the family from flying with the airline.
 

Shelton states that the removal from the flight led to her having to pay for additional travel fares to get to Tampa, including flight tickets with another carrier, a rental car, and hotel accommodations. 

Crystal Shelton is requesting relief from the Department of Transportation, ordering Allegiant to pay penalties for discrimination and to reimburse the family following the attendant's "discriminatory and retaliatory conduct".

Allegiant Air has yet to comment publicly on the complaint.