A family in California says they were kicked off an Allegiant Air flight because their son has a peanut allergy.
Kyson and Sara Dana boarded a flight with their 1-year-old son Theo from Provo, Utah, to Oakland, California. They asked flight attendants to not serve peanuts in their area.
He told ABC News that he and his wife carried an EpiPen just in case of an emergency and reiterated that "the airline wasn't accountable for anything that could happen."
They said the attendant refused their request but they were still willing to fly.
"We were just sitting there like normal and they came up and said, you know, you need to get off the plane," Kyson said.
According to a statement from Allegiant, the flight crew then contacted a third party organization that advises Allegiant and other carriers when making decisions about the safety of passengers with potential medical issues onboard an aircraft. The third party organization, which includes on-call medical doctors available to provide guidance, advised that the family not fly on that specific flight.
Allegiant ended up booking the Dana family on another airline.
Allegiant also sent an email apologizing to the family.
"We regret that you were denied boarding due to any misunderstanding regarding the severity of your child’s peanut allergy. I realize that medical issues can be highly challenging. We just wanted to make sure you arrived home safely," according to the statement sent to ABC News.
According to its website, Allegiant says the airline "does not guarantee an allergen-free flight" but that it "will attempt to re-seat a passenger affected by an allergy in an effort to minimize the passenger's exposure to the allergen."
