New airline rules may lead to peanut ban

The net (or should we say nut ?) result of the new airlines rules could be peanuts. Literally. Buried in the numerous passenger-friendly rule changes is a proposal to restrict the serving of peanuts on flights.
 

"We’ve heard enough about it from people who have peanut allergies and are concerned about it," US Transportation Secretary (DOT) Raymond LaHood is quoted as saying by the Kansas City Star.

The newspaper adds "the proposal revisits an issue that surfaced in 1998 when Congress stopped the Clinton administration from requiring airlines to set aside at least three rows where no peanuts could be served."
 

The DOT "is seeking public comment" on the subject. There are various options such as prohibiting airlines from serving peanuts at all to requiring them to “create a peanut-free zone.”
 

If new restrictions do come to pass, how might that impact the U.S. airline that’s perhaps most-frequently associated with peanuts?
 

Scott McCartney, the Middle Seat columnist at The Wall Street Journal, writes "peanut-loving Southwest Airlines says it already offers alternative snacks and can halt all peanut service if requested by a passenger who has an allergy. Southwest also recommends that passengers with peanut allergies travel earlier in the day before peanut dust builds."
 

The public has 60 days to comment on the DOT’s proposed rule changes. LaHood says he hopes to finalize the proposal as early as this fall.
 

By David Wilkening