The dismissal of a disability complaint against Southwest Airlines fails to extend pre-boarding rights to travelers with all major food allergies. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) order only reinforces pre-boarding for passengers with nut and peanut allergies to wipe down seating areas for allergen residue.
However, the complaint launched against the airline by four nonprofit allergy advocacy organizations sought accommodations for passengers with all food allergies. The DOT dismissed the allergy complaint over the airline’s pre-boarding policies on March 18, 2026.
“This is just not how disability protections are supposed to work,” Lianne Mandelbaum, founder of the nonprofit No Nut Traveler, tells Allergic Living. “You can’t say food allergies are a disability, but only certain allergies merit protection in the air.”
The DOT dismissal states, “While severe food allergies are disabilities, the specific right to preboard to clean the seating area has only been tied to nut allergies.” Instead, the federal agency says accommodating other food allergens should be addressed through a larger process of notice-and-comment rulemaking.
The November 2022 DOT complaint was launched by the Allergy and Asthma Network (AAN), the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT), and No Nut Traveler.
The complaint alleged that the airline’s September 2022 policy change to deny pre-boarding to passengers with food allergies violated the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights.
Southwest Airlines reversed course in December 2022, reinstating pre-boarding for passengers with peanut and nut allergies. That move forms the basis of the DOT decision to dismiss the nonprofit groups’ complaint.
Pre-boarding Sought for All Allergies
Yet, at the time of Southwest’s reversal, an attorney for the four groups said the complaint still needed to move forward. The reason? Southwest wasn’t extending the pre-boarding right to those with food allergies beyond nuts and peanuts.
The complainants say that key issue remains. “We maintain that pre-boarding is a reasonable accommodation for all passengers with food allergies,” says AAFA’s Jenna Riemenschneider.
Attorney Laurel Francoeur calls the DOT’s allergy finding, “a total misinterpretation of the ACAA and the regulations.”
“There is no justification for treating people with nut allergies differently than others,” Francoeur tells Allergic Living. Francoeur, of the Francoeur Law Office near Boston, is jointly representing the groups in the complaint with disability rights attorney Mary Vargas.
Pre-boarding allows food allergy passengers to use wipes to clean their seating area and tray table. This reduces the risk of allergen exposures and an in-flight reaction.
“The Air Carrier Access Act provides that pre-boarding must be permitted when a passenger because of disability needs additional time to be seated,” says Vargas, who is a partner in the firm Stein & Vargas LLP.
In addition, she points to the federal agency’s own wording in its decision in a pivotal lawsuit in 2019 involving pre-boarding and nut allergies on American Airlines. The DOT decision in the MacKenzie case states, “When a passenger with a severe allergy asks for preboarding to wipe down seating surfaces, he or she is requesting additional time ‘to be seated,’ because from the passenger’s perspective, the seating area cannot be safely accessed until it is wiped down.”
In that case spearheaded by Vargas, a family of a girl with multiple food allergies was denied the right to pre-board her flights. The DOT found the airline to be in violation of the ACAA’s provision allowing pre-boarding for disabilities.
DOT’s Focus on Nuts
The DOT points to previous complaints against American Airlines to support its decision to limit accommodations on Southwest flights only for peanut and nut allergies.
Those complaints, one brought by the nonprofit FARE and the other by an individual with food allergies, were dismissed. American Airlines had since updated its policy to allow pre-boarding for tree nuts and peanuts.
In its dismissal of the complaint against Southwest, the DOT backs Southwest’s argument that the case involving FARE “specifically identifies ‘severe nut allergies’ as the protected category.”
But Francoeur says, “The ACAA does not use the word ‘nut’ or ‘peanut’, so it is disingenuous to think that the airlines would read that into the law. And the DOT shouldn’t either.”
The nonprofit FAACT’s general counsel said her organization “is extremely disappointed” in the DOT’s complaint dismissal. Amelia Smith, a FAACT vice president, says the dismissal was “based on some arbitrary distinction that nut allergies are different from other allergies.” This despite the agency recognizing that food allergies are protected under the ACAA.
The DOT’s order to dismiss advises groups to go through the rulemaking process to extend pre-boarding accommodations to all allergens. That would involve petitioning the agency to make a rule modification or a new rule, which would include input from citizens and stakeholders.
“The idea that people with certain disabilities would need to go through notice and comment rulemaking to access their rights is a total defection from existing law and rights,” Vargas says. “There are not, in the law, favored and disfavored disabilities. There is a right to equal access. The DOT has forgotten that.”
What’s Next for Passengers
The attorneys and the nonprofits will be exploring all options to determine which route to take to try to provide pre-boarding protections for passengers with any food allergies, Francoeur says. The attorneys disagree with the DOT that a change in rules is necessary to do so, she notes.
“We think this is a gross misinterpretation. This is going to continue to be a battle,” Mandelbaum says. “I really think this decision is indefensible and it puts lives at risk.”
AAFA plans to use the latest DOT action as “an opportunity to advocate for protective measures to support safer, equitable air travel for all passengers with food allergies,” says Riemenschneider, AAFA’s vice president of policy and advocacy.
For travelers with upcoming flights on Southwest, the dismissal of the pre-boarding complaint ushers in uncertainty on how to proceed.
Passengers with food allergies should still ask to pre-board, recommends Mandelbaum. But they should arrive at the airport ready to do their best if pre-boarding is not allowed. Food-allergic travelers should bring wipes, make sure their auto-injectors are with them, and avoid eating an airline meal, she advises.
“We ask all airlines to allow pre-boarding for people with food allergies and encourage airlines to stock easy-to-use forms of epinephrine in their medical kits,” Riemenschneider says.
Related Reading:
Southwest Restores Nut Allergy Pre-Board, Advocates Seek More
Allergic Living’s Airlines & Allergies Guide: Domestic
MDs Save Flight Attendant in Anaphylaxis, But Where Was the Epi?
