The Official Southwest Airlines Semi-Annual Peanut Transition

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The Official Southwest Airlines Semi-Annual Peanut Transition

Mon, 02/11/2008 - 09:23 — Paula Berg

Brace yourselves everyone...it's that time again..."The Official Southwest Airlines Semi-Annual Peanut-Transition." (Now that I've given it a name, I'm thinking I might make a T-shirt and sell it in the lobby of our Headquarters here in Dallas. That idea might be especially funny to anyone who works here, as there is a new T-shirt for sale every week...but that's a whole other blog post...now, back to peanuts...)

Every six months or so we switch from dry roasted to honey roasted peanuts, giving us all the opportunity to debate the merits of each style of nut and rehash old peanut stories.

Six years ago, I was working in our Customer Relations Department responding to Customer letters. It was my first job with Southwest Airlines, and a job that many of us internally refer to as "Southwest Boot Camp" - not because it's especially strenuous, but because it's a job that allows you to learn a tremendous amount about the Company in a very short period of time.

Every Customer letter we receive, in turn, receives a researched and personal response from someone like me - no form letters here, folks! In fact, many Customer Relations "graduates" can recall with great pride the way they were able to reslove a specific Customer's dilemma with a level of compassion and grace that only someone intimately involved in the situation could.

I can recall several situations of my own like that...the woman whose eye glasses fell in the "lav" while she was cleaning red wine off of her brand new, white, Ralph Lauren suit with a can of club soda and a maxi pad (our Flight Attendants know all kinds of tricks). Or the Customer who, over the phone, turned me into a Hangar One Vodka fan for life (it wasn't until just now that I realized the airline connection).

And, I will never forget one letter in particular regarding our honey roasted peanuts:

August 31, 2001

Dear Sir or Madam:

As a constant passenger on your Los Angeles to Oakland run, I have kept a particular question to myself for sometime now. However, frustration has finally gotten the better of me, and I simply must ask. What happened to the honey-roasted peanuts?

All you serve now are those high in sodium, salted-nuts. Sure, you give everyone two packets of them, but I'd much rather have one package of honey-roasted peanuts over twelve packages of salted-peanuts. Hell, I'd rather have one package of honey-roasted peanuts over a small Not-For-Resale package of Oreos.

My physician has told me that I have way too much sodium in my diet as it stands, so that's the reason for my being so adamant about the subject at hand. Is there a way to (much like the people order kosher meals prior to take-off) for me to order a package of honey-roasted peanuts instead of salted ones?

Sincerely,

David Paulson

P.S. - I have nothing against Oreos, just in case you guys have anything to do with manufacturing those cookies. But when you're on a plane and don't have a mirror to look into, Oreos are the worst thing to eat...you end up with black speckles wedged in throughout your smile.

At the time I received this letter, I had only been a Southwest Employee for about four months and had just made my way through training. I wrote a nice response explaining where the honey-roasted peanuts had gone, but my Supervisor, sent me back to the drawing board to produce a more thoughtful response.

November 16, 2001

Dear Mr. Paulson;

            Thank you for your letter of August 31. I am sorry to learn of your disappointment with our onboard peanut selection. As a frequent flyer myself, I have often wondered, "What happened to the honey roasted peanuts?"

I too prefer honey roasted peanuts to just plain old salted nuts and can certainly understand your dilemma. Typically, we rotate the types of peanuts we serve from honey roasted to salt roasted on a semi-annual basis. However, in an effort to cut costs following the events of September 11, we will be holding off on honey roasted peanuts until at least the end of the year. Of course, our Customers are always welcome to carry their "goodies of choice" onboard with them, and I have taken the liberty of enclosing a couple of bags for you to take along on your next trip.

            Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. Your business is truly appreciated, and we will look forward to serving you honey roasted peanuts again in the future.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Paula Berg

Enclosure: Honey Roasted Peanuts

To my surprise, I received a letter from a Mr. Paul Davidson, aka Mr. Paulson, several months later asking permission to publish my response in a book called Consumer Joe - Harassing corporate America, One Letter at a Time. I signed, and you can now read my letter (see page 47)...and at least 100 others...in Paul Davidson's Book.

Note: Normally we have a 30-day turn around on Customer letters, but September 11 occurred just days after we received "Mr. Paulson's" letter, so we were, understandably, behind.

Also Note: If you have plans to fly on us and have any sort of peanut allergy, please know that a) we offer pretzels as an alternative snack, and b) if you call our reservations line at 1-800-I-Fly-SWA and notify us of your allergy, we will make every effort to keep peanuts off of your flight.

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Comments

I apperciate the kind and thoughtful response you gave to Mr. Paulson. I was also impressed to hear of your supervisor sending you back to the drawing board to craft a more personal response. Good for hm/her.

Scot — Mon, 02/11/2008 - 15:45

First of all, NO honey roasted peanuts! I love the plain ol' roasted peanuts best.

Second: These people with peanut allergies: Sure, the allergy is real but the response to it is absurd! What evidence is there that someone sitting in a row several ahead of or behind be is going to be affected by peanuts?

Why not take ALL snacks off the plane when someone says he has an allergy to peanuts? If you look at the packaging of many snack items, like pretzels, it will say the item was processed in a plant that also processed peanuts.

Another point: Shouldn't the aircraft be fully cleaned before the person with the peanut allergy gets on board? After all, the aircraft could have flow many segments with hundreds of people, many of whom had peanuts, before the allergic person got on.

David Ross — Mon, 02/11/2008 - 18:15

Mr. Ross:
As the mother of a child with a life-threatening peanut allergy, I must inform you that my child can DIE if he comes into contact with peanuts, so I don't feel the response to the allergy is "absurd." I don't fly Southwest because they choose to continue to serve peanuts and the aircraft will have peanut residue, even if peanuts are not served on a particular flight.

I admit that I wondered what all the fuss was about regarding peanuts before I had to deal with this allergy every day. I just want to let you know that it is a real threat to a lot of people and we need to worry about it everywhere we go.

peanut allergy mother — Mon, 02/11/2008 - 18:54

Hi Paula!
I'll buy one of those shirts.
Is there a department that designs them full time now?
I think it is in Blog boy's office under the memorbilia. ;-)
Ding!
boy
joe!

Joe Friedmann — Mon, 02/11/2008 - 19:11

I love the peanuts you serve! Honey roasted is my preference, but I'll eat either. I just want to know why sometimes I only get one package. (I usually am starving even though I eat prior to getting on the plane).

Megan — Mon, 02/11/2008 - 22:27

I love the Honey roasted ones not the plan ones

Timmy Acton — Tue, 02/12/2008 - 02:07

To the peanut allergy mom, I too have a family member who has a number of food allergies, peanuts being one of them. My niece blows up like a balloon when in physical contact with peanuts or when she eats anything cooked in peanut oil, so we are careful with her when she flies Southwest (she really can't stay away from her auntie!). If you do choose to fly with us, please keep a couple of things in mind. Every night, each aircraft is cleaned thoroughly before it is sent out in service for the next day. An early fight is always best, even if you can't get the first flight out in the morning, because there won't be too much peanut residue onboard. Also, we do have procedures in place to let us know when not to serve peanuts onboard. One of those is to let a Reservations Agent know when you book your flight, so that the information can be recorded in your resevation. As a backup, you ALWAYS want to let as many Southwest folks at the airport know. We have a peanut allergy form that is filled out for each leg of the flight, as a heads-up to the crew, but that we would always prefer to have done before the flight. There have been a couple of instances where no one is notified until the flight is all boarded up, ready to push back, and someone pipes up the need for alternative snacks. The sooner we know, the more people who know, the better we can get all of our Passengers taken care of!

Rachel - BDL Operations Agent — Tue, 02/12/2008 - 03:46

I also vote for honey-roasted!

Jason — Wed, 02/13/2008 - 06:36

Question for "peanut allergy mother"...if you do not fly on SWA, why are you on the blog???
Comment for mom: I can sympathize with your plight...I am extremely allergic to bananas...and suffered with horrid food allergies (including gluten) as a child in the 1960's. It was a pain...and very scary when I would have a reaction from accidentally ingesting the wrong thing. If your child is that sensitive...even to residue...I would suggest only flying charter...peanut oil is ubiquitous these days!
And I go nuts for the honey roasted myself!

Carla — Thu, 02/14/2008 - 04:35

Paula,
I won't even try to address the "plain/honey" issue here, since that seems to inflame more passions than Presidential primaries, but I will congratulate you on two things.

First, your letter back to whoever-that-really-was is another great example of customer sensitivity and responsiveness from SWA. (Of course, we didn't see your first attempt!) Second, from the descriptions and comments that accompany the Amazon webpage for his book, it looks like you got off easy in his "harassment" of you. At least you weren't faced with the dilemma of paying for his psychiatrist bill!

Kim
The External Nut who is Neither Dry Nor Honey Coated :)

Kim Seale — Fri, 02/15/2008 - 04:17

Kim,
Paula has nothing to be ashamed of with her first drafts, and I assure you that she works in monk-like solitude with only a concrete cot, a single overhead bulb, and a computer. And, she is thinking about foregoing the cot.

Blog Boy

Brian Lusk — Fri, 02/15/2008 - 14:27

Brian,
To hear her tell the story, that single light bulb is actually burned out, the concrete cot does NOT have an adjustable sleep number, and her computer is a modified Atari Pong game running on a 186 processor.
Kim
External Blog Boy and Cruel Workplace Sympathizer
P. S. Errrr, should that be "nun-like" solitude, or is she actually cloistered in an all-male environment? :)

Kim Seale — Fri, 02/15/2008 - 16:34

Yes, I'll take a shirt, too! Peanuts sound really good right now! I always eat any kind you serve & will be eating some again soon on my flight to & from STL!

Thought for the day: Why do people say they're on the radio? They're not literally on it.

SWA LUV! :)

Leah J. — Sun, 02/17/2008 - 01:44

Kim - good to hear from you...and speaking of Atari...i just watched a great documentary called the King of Kong about the guys that hold the highest score for Donkey Kong. Facinating stuff. It reminded me that I was a bit of a gamer myself back in the day. But, no more. As Brian said...monk-like solitude.

Paula Berg — Mon, 02/18/2008 - 05:17

[...] It’s that nutty time of year again! Southwest Airlines is switching from dry roasted to honey roasted peanuts! Alas, if you like dry roasted you’ll have to hold off your vacation for another month or six, until the next Semi-Annual Peanut-Transition. [...]

Peanut transitions, predatory females and Austria(lia) | Ven — Sun, 02/24/2008 - 07:28

My 6 year old son is very allergic to peanuts. I will not fly this airline despite the great prices and convenient schedules to my frequent destinations. What a shame that a company like yours doesn't get it that the romanticism of serving peanuts in a plane can put small children - an ever increasing population of small children - in a life or death situation - yes - death !!!

Go figure!!

Pablo — Thu, 02/28/2008 - 16:29

I was on a flight recently RNO-BWI with a stop in Chicago Midway. While boarding I notice a passenger with one of those paper masks on. Passing it off at the time as a germ-a phobic.
When the flight attendents started beverage and snack service it was announced that there was a passenger onboard with a severe peanut allergy and no peanuts would be served on the flight. Next leg of the flight the same announcement was made for that leg also.
I truly respect the decision of Southwest to accomodate these passengers with allergies, but I have a hard time as to why two full flight of 137 each total of 275 people are inconvenienced by ONE person. If this person has such a severe allergy he or she should not take the risk of flying and Southwest should assess their risk of a allergic reaction @39,000 feet.
Just my opinion and do not mean to disrespect anyone.

Sue — Sat, 03/01/2008 - 16:15

I have a daughter who has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts. The people who have posted here who say that people with peanut allergies shouldn't have the right to fly on an airplane or the smart mouth who suggested the other mom with the peanut-allergic kid should fly "charter" are only expressing their ignorance.

It's not ONE kid or adult who has a life-threatening peanut allergy. It is now millions of people and airlines need to update their policies.

If you think it's inconvenient to be "deprived" of peanuts for one flight because someone on the flight has a peanut allergy, try raising a child with severe food allergies. Most people are kind but enough are completely intolerant to make life extremely difficult.

Shame on you! And get used to having peanuts go off flights completely. That day is coming!

Jenny — Fri, 03/14/2008 - 21:33

I think the previous poster is totally missing the point about the inconenience issue. It is apparent that she suffers from the ME syndrome so commonly observed with society today. It is your type of selfish attitude that is destroying this country - The heck with everyone else as long as I have MY way when I want it. Let MY child on the plane. So what if 139 people are affected. May I ask how are you going to control the person that brought on peanut butter crackers?? What would you do if your child had a severe reaction at 38,000 feet????
Shame on YOU of risking your child's life.
"It is now millions of people and airlines need to update their policies." - There was only ONE lady on TWO FULL flights. (One leg of the flight was over 4 hours.)
"Try raising a child with severe food allergies - Sorry for your child's allergy, but if the allergy is so severe, why would you even consider the risk to your child by flying? - The person that affected my flight was not a child but an adult that should have had more consideration of her fellow passengers.
Sorry for being so harsh, I am a mother of 5 and grandmother of 4, so it's not that I hate kids. I personally would not even take the chance and put my child in danger.

Sue — Thu, 03/27/2008 - 23:41

I recently flew Southwest and was surprised to discover the airline still served peanuts. I have three boys, one with a peanut allergy. Yes, I will not be choosing to fly Southwest with my family due to the risk involved for my younger son. His allergy may or may not be life-threatening, according to his pediatrician. That's the way it works with peanut allergy. There are no certainties, it all depends upon exposure. I do know kids who experience respiratory problems when someone else is simply eating a peanut butter sandwich in the same room. The idea of passengers wiping their peanut residue hands on seat belts, seat backs, etc. is simply scary. Southwest will eventually change the policy, because peanut allergy is occurring more frequently in our population and Southwest will lose business as more and more families deal with peanut allergy and simply can't risk flying with Southwest. Sadly, until bottom line sales are affected, I imagine nothing will change. But, one lawsuit or marketing research that comes back indicating the volume of lost business, and pretzels will be in fashion. Or, maybe if someone in a leadership position with Southwest has to worry about someone they love dying from an allergic reaction, the snack menu will change. Yes, I will simply choose not to fly Southwest with my son so people who "love to eat peanuts while riding on an airplane" may continue to enjoy this pleasure. However, I find it disturbing from a humanistic perspective that the idea of inconveniencing peanut lovers is more important to Southwest than the opportunity to better protect a person with a life-threatening allergy. Seems like an odd position for a company to take...

phaedra craig — Fri, 03/28/2008 - 15:14

Dear Blogsters,

I love honey roasted, however in recent history I have come to the conclusion I have an eating disorder and can't be around food for more than 1 hour each meal cycle. This makes flying difficult for me as food is carted around the whole flight ( I fly from LAX to Boston a lot). What should I do? I already buy 2 seats on the plane, and want to fit into the ONE some day.

-Ryan-

Ryanvinedale — Fri, 05/23/2008 - 01:37

Sue, David Ross, and Carla:

Just a little primer on ethics here....

We are talking about eating a snack vs. a life-and-death issue. It's a bit self-centered to think people should be denied travel so you can eat your peanuts.

Carla: sorry to hear about your banana allergy. I'm not familiar with these. Is it deadly, or just painful?

David Ross: Are you an expert on allergies? Or just opining without knowing anything? It's established that people die from this allergy, and doctors already recommend that someone with peanut allergies fly on peanut-free flights. Until you explain your credentials, your opinions just seem ignorant.

Sue: Nice attitude towards the person in mask. (Two new concepts for you: "tyranny of the majority" and "blaming the victim".) You're a real sweetheart of a grandmother -- I suppose you wouldn't want your grandkids to travel to see you if they had peanut allergies.

I stay away from Southwest when I can, but sometimes there aren't a lot of travel options and Southwest is the only way to go. With the distances and minimal vacation time that people have in the US, it's not practical to suggest other means of travel. (Chartering your own plane is not affordable or realistic, otherwise everyone would do it to stay off these damn flying buses!)

In the long term, many of the folks eating peanuts may end up with children with peanut allergies. The research I've seen to understand the recent growth of the problem looks at peanut consumption by the parent as a major factor. So there may be fewer customers in the future for SWA as more of the population gets these allergies.

David (not Ross) — Fri, 05/23/2008 - 04:58

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