Airline Removed Teenagers From Flight Over Serious Peanut Allergy

Two teenage brothers were allegedly kicked off a connecting international flight in Seoul last week because of peanut allergy. According to reports Tuesday, the airline served nuts despite knowing that one of them had a serious allergy.

The 15- and 16-year-old boys were traveling alone to Manila, Philippines, from Atlanta to visit their dad who was temporarily based there for work. The family had booked a flight through Delta Air Lines which included a leg of a flight with Korean Air, as the airline is a Delta sky partner.

The boys' family members, who spoke to the media this week, said they informed Delta of the boy’s allergy and the airline made sure no peanuts were served during their flight from Atlanta to Seoul. However, when the boys boarded their second flight from Seoul to Manila on Korean Air, the airline crew refused to stop serving nuts.

According to the mother, the boys had boarded the flight to Manila early and had already settled down when the flight attendant told them the airline would serve peanuts.

"He kept trying to make them understand that serving peanuts around him could put his life at risk because he could go into anaphylaxis shock (sic)," the mother said.

One of the boys told the crew that they had already explained to the gate agent that he had a severe peanut and tree nuts allergy, which can be triggered even if people eat nuts around him. However, the airline crew forced the boys to get off the plane, following which they were stranded in Seoul and made to return to Atlanta.

"The gate agent reaches over and tries to tug on my son's shirt to encourage him to get off the plane," the boys' father, Rakesh Patel, reportedly said. "It's not easy being in that position when you are that far from your kids."

The Patel family filed a complaint with Delta and asked for a refund. The boys' father said he feels it is necessary to make sure partner airlines follow consistent allergy guidelines to ensure the safety of all passengers.

"You guys really need to make sure your partner airlines have the same policies. We just need to come up with some fair policies that allow passengers with severe allergies to be treated respectfully, fairly and allow them to travel," Patel said. "It was not my fault. It was not my children's fault. It was one of your partner airlines."

After the complaint was filed, Korean Air apologized to the family and said it was looking into the situation, as was Delta Air Lines.

Korean Air told Yahoo Lifestyle in a statement:

Korean Air is aware that peanut and food allergies are an industry issue and no airline can guarantee a food allergy-free environment. But we are reviewing ways to deal with this issue in a safe and feasible way. We totally understand the risks faced by passengers with nut and food allergies and will certainly try to accommodate them better in the future. Korean Air sincerely apologizes to Mr. and Mrs. Patel and their sons. Customer service is a mainstay of the Delta and Korean Air partnership and we regret that the Patels experience did not reflect our common values. We are reviewing this incident and will strive to create a better customer experience.

Delta also released a statement saying: “We’re sorry for this family’s ordeal, and we are working with our partner Korean Air to examine the processes surrounding this incident. We will use our findings to create a consistent experience for customers flying Delta and our partner airlines.”