Sir, - I refer to the column entitled "Ten Things I Hate About . . . Flying" (The Irish Times, October 7th). One of the things that Rosita Boland hates is "the way Aer Lingus is too scared to give you peanuts any more in case you croak in mid-air".
While Ms Boland is clearly entitled to her own opinion, I believe the phraseology of this is both unfair and in very poor taste. For those people who don't understand the background to this comment, she is referring to the fact that Aer Lingus no longer serve peanuts on their flights in order to help ensure that people who have a potentially fatal allergy to peanuts can fly safely.
Aer Lingus is one of the first airlines to take this step in the world and should be congratulated on this rather than scoffed at. Peanuts represent a serious risk to an increasing number of people and hence Aer Lingus policy is not simply aimed at improving customer satisfaction, but is an act of strong social responsibility.
My daughter has a potentially fatal allergy to peanuts and simply could not fly safely without the co-operation of airlines such as Aer Lingus. If Ms Boland had a similar condition, she might take a more serious and sympathetic attitude to this matter. - Yours, etc.,
Chand Kohli, Chairman, The Irish Anaphylaxis Campaign, PO Box 4373, Dublin 18.
