Have you met Lianne? You should. She’s our hero.
Lianne Mandelbaum, founder of NoNutTraveler.com, is also a mom to three kids, a physical therapist and a fitness enthusiast with a passion for feeding and housing the homeless. Despite her obvious caring nature, as well as her big focus on health, if you would have told her two years ago what she’d be doing today, she probably wouldn’t have believed you. That’s because her strong allergy awareness stance was acquired the hard way just over a year ago, when a major airline refused to help protect Josh – her son with a severe peanut allergy. This event, though unfortunate, has driven Lianne to make serious headway for the betterment of air travel for all of our families. It’s also what makes her our AllerMates Hero for January.
I recently sat down with Lianne to find out what she’s up to. Read what she says below.
Lianne, what are you trying to accomplish with NoNutTraveler.com?
I want airlines to develop a uniform policy for handling passengers with life-threatening food allergies. My own family’s experience made me feel so powerless because there was no policy I could reference for help. I had to make the decision to not get on their plane in order to protect my child, and I don’t want others to be put in that position anymore. And I don’t want it to take a tragedy on a plane to create policy.
What is your ideal policy and why is having it so important?
I’ll use WestJet and JetBlue as examples. They allow food-allergic passengers to identify themselves at the time of booking and then pre-board to clean for past contamination. They’ll also make announcements to alert others and will create a buffer zone around the allergic passenger to specify where no nuts are to be served or consumed. They stock epinephrine auto-injectors for use in the event of a reaction. And although they don’t make any guarantees of a nut-free environment, their good faith efforts help to keep allergic passengers safe.
As allergy parents, we know and accept that there will always be risk. We bring our own food and supplies wherever we go to mitigate that risk. I’m not asking to take nuts off of planes and out of the picture; just that we lessen the risk.
What do you see happening?
It’s definitely being talked about within all the airlines. Since I started in November of 2013, which was only two weeks after my own family’s incident, one major airline is reviewing their policy, and another has changed their policy. They now state that someone may make an announcement about the allergic passenger, which when done will alert other passengers to be cautious with their foods. Because the operative word is “may,” the policy isn’t where I believe it should be, but it is a step in the right direction since other airlines are taking note of the changes their peers are making.
What can we all do to help you and your cause?
There are a few things. The most obvious is to sign the petition on my website because more signatures equal more support which drives action. Another request is to share your air travel stories with me. As allergy families, we are always planning ahead. So even when we have a bad experience, as long as the outcome wasn’t detrimental, we simply move on to the next obstacle. This is when moving on creates an issue because in doing so, nothing will ever change, which leaves it all up to chance for the next family!
Lastly, I urge you to talk about this issue within your allergy groups. I’m working with a coalition of such groups, but if they’re hearing it from you, too, it only helps the cause. Talk to your legislators as well. I worked with New Jersey Senator Joe Kyrillos to pass Resolution 124, urging airlines to adopt policies that recognize food allergy passengers. Because it’s on a state level, it’s non-binding, but it’s progress and airlines are taking notice. I’m also working with the office of U.S. Senator Cory Booker and am optimistic that he will assist us at the Federal level.
As food allergy parents, what should we be doing that we’re not already doing?
That’s easy; talking to people OUTSIDE of the food allergy community. Obviously, I want the support of those in my community, but I’m just preaching to the choir. Instead, we need to seek outside support because sometimes people legitimately don’t know what we go through; it’s not that they don’t care. If we make compassionate people aware of our cause and of the allergy epidemic increase, we can create change.
At the end of the day, why do you work so hard for this cause?
My son, Josh. He’s a champion tennis player, and we’ll have to start traveling to tournaments soon. Down the road, he may need to fly to school or weddings, funerals and work appointments, and he’ll want to take vacations with his friends. He should be able to go wherever he wants, without unnecessary fear. It doesn’t mean he should be treated special, it just means he should fly safely.
The teenage population is the most risky; it’s where we are seeing tragic endings. If we lobby for these policies now, they’ll help protect Josh and other future teenagers as they go on in life. It only requires simple measures from our airlines.
What’s next for you?
I work with FARE on various projects, and am also trying to get epinephrine auto-injectors into theatres in NYC. I’ll continue to help the homeless as much as possible, and in fact, we’ll be adding a hunger initiative to our FARE lunch in NYC this spring. I’m still a licensed physical therapist and take classes on children’s nutrition, and when I done with all of this, I’d like to teach yoga to children with special needs. But, there’s still a lot of work to do with the airlines.
Therefore, I’ll continue working to create mainstream awareness and collecting evidence, meaning others’ stories on air travel shared on my website. Having these stories is so vital for communications with legislators, the public and allergy groups. I’d also like to present the petition to all the airlines and appropriate legislators, so I’ll be working to get more signatures. We’re approaching 50,000 names, but we need a bit more to make a good impact. I also hope I can convince others, through my writing on The Huffington Post and other outlets, to have empathy and compassion towards all individuals with food allergies.
You’ve made a big impact on us, Lianne. : ) Thank you for ALL you do, and keep up the fabulous work.
For more on Lianne’s story and her cause or to sign the petition, visit NoNutTraveler.com. Lianne also offers tips for flying as an allergy family, which can be found on her Facebook page.