Woman Bought Every Pack Of Peanuts On Flight After Crew Left Her With 'No Choice' By Ignoring Her Allergy Request

Aug 11, 2023

Allergens are being strictly avoided by many people for a reason. It is because extreme exposure or digestion of such allergens can cause a person damage to their health that sometimes can not be helped by the use of an EpiPen or other interventions. 

One woman in particular, 27-year-old Leah Williams, was angered when the crew of her Eurowings budget flight going to London from Dusseldorf, Germany, on Aug. 6, 2023, ignored her requests that all peanuts on the flight be banned for purchase or eating because of a lifelong allergy she has. 

Williams claimed that the flight crew dismissed her requests to do such, leaving her with the expensive option to buy all 43 packets of nuts on board. 

In an exclusive interview with Mirror UK, the purchase of said peanuts cost Williams nearly $190 (£150) – which was triple the cost of her fare from her departure location to her destination. 

“The stewards looked at me blankly like I was crazy and said, ‘But there is a lot, we’ll have to count them all.’ I said, 'Please do count them and I will pay for them all, seeing as you have left me with no choice,''' Williams recalled telling the crew. 

After she landed and was in a less furious state, she wanted a refund for all the nuts she bought. 

“Eurowings should be ashamed of how they handled this situation and for the way they made me feel,” she said. 

Keep on reading to learn more about what happened to Williams and whether Eurowings refunded her for the peanuts she bought. 

Eurowings Spokesperson Anke Carola Walter told LADBible in a statement that they are “very sorry” about what happened to Williams during the flight. 

“We are very sorry that the flight with us did not go as smoothly as planned and we regret any inconvenience this has caused Leah Williams,” she said. 

However, Walter debunked Williams’ claim that she was forced with the only option to buy all the peanuts on board. 

“Leah Williams was not forced to buy all packages of peanuts on board – on the contrary, our purser tried to offer her an alternative solution by informing all passengers sitting around her about Leah’s allergy,” she claimed. “She agreed at first but then decided to still buy all the packages.”

Walter reiterated that the airline operates over 600 flights a day and flies more than 80,000 passengers on a daily basis. Just based on this premise, the spokesperson pointed out that “it is not possible to exclude the possibility” of the presence of all allergens in every plane. 

According to the airline’s website, they could not guarantee that their meals are nut free as they serve them on all of their flights either as a meal ingredient or an accompaniment to the drinks. 

“Furthermore, due to its construction (shape, air conditioning system, ventilation, etc.), it is not possible to prevent an accumulation of peanut/nut traces (e.g. residues from an earlier flight) despite regular and thorough cleaning of the aircraft,” the airline spokesperson suggested. 

It was not known further whether Eurowings granted Williams a refund for her $190. 

What can you say about Leah Williams’ conundrum? Do you think she deserves to be granted a refund for her purchase? What would you have done if you were in her shoes? Let us know, and pass this on to your family and friends.