A Toronto woman is fighting for compensation after she says she was denied boarding a Turkish Airlines flight because of a food allergy.
Norine Khalil was flying from Istanbul to Toronto after celebrating her sister’s wedding when the otherwise joyous vacation unravelled.
The 32-year-old nutritionist told Global News she informed the airline of her allergy when she flew out of Toronto a week earlier.
So, when it was time to travel home, Khalil said she followed the same procedure and told an attendant at the gate before boarding.
“It just snowballed from there,” she said via phone to 640 Toronto.
Khalil said she struggled to overcome a language barrier with multiple employees before a supervisor got involved.
An employee then told her she could fly as long as she didn’t eat anything onboard.
“I said, ‘That’s fine, I never eat on airplanes. I pack my food for this reason,’” Khalil said.
Khalil said she was instructed to sign a document – “a release of some sort” – to promise that she would not eat anything on the plane.
She agreed, but minutes later, was told she couldn’t fly anyway.
“He got back on the phone, came back and that’s when he said to me, ‘You can’t fly on this flight,’” Khalil said.
“He told me they need 24 hours’ notice of a food allergy.”
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Khalil said she told the man that the rule was not on their website, but it didn’t elicit much of a reaction.
That’s when she tweeted to Turkish Airlines about the ordeal.
Though the airline responded, assigning her a case number, both Khalil and her husband were forced to book a new flight for the following day.
She said they paid out of pocket for new tickets and one-night accommodation.
“I was just so disappointed in the fact that they were doing this based on something that I can’t even control,” she said.
“For them to completely disregard that was really disappointing to me.”
Between new flights and a hotel, Khalil said the situation set her back $2,500.
“It’s just devastating, that’s the only word for it,” she said.
“For them to just deny my travel was so upsetting – and panicked. I’m a private health care provider so my income relies on seeing my patients. All that was going through my head was, ‘How am I supposed to get home tonight?’”
Turkish Airlines, under the Allergies section of its website, states: “Be sure that you inform us of any allergies you may have for your in-flight meal.”
On another page, detailing “special meal options,” the airline says passengers who want to make a special meal request “must have these processed on their reservations at least 24 hours before their flight” and are required to present a “medical report.”
“Since we cannot guarantee that any of our flights are allergen-free, we cannot take responsibility for any allergic reactions’ passengers may have,” the website reads.
“Passengers with allergies to particular foodstuffs need to submit special meal requests with a medical report.”
It’s unclear whether this rule applies to a particular flight class or to those who do not intend to have an in-flight meal.
Global News has reached out to the airline for comment and clarification but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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In a statement to The Independent, a Turkish Airlines spokesperson confirmed the airline had been contacted by Khalil. They said the airline takes allergies “extremely seriously.”
“This matter is in the hands of our customer relations and customer services management team, who are treating it with the utmost importance.”
Gabor Lukacs, the founder of Air Passengers Rights, said passengers are normally expected to provide airlines with 48 hours’ notice of nut allergies.
He said 24 hours is “not unheard of.”
“Not letting her fly may have been the safe decision in this situation if – and only if – the airline is unable to accommodate her on that flight,” he said. “It has to be a serious hardship for that.”
He called it “unreasonable” of Turkish Airlines to charge for a ticket change in this case.
Khalil agrees and said she and her husband will be seeking compensation.
In July, Canada’s new Air Passenger Protection Regulations came into effect. The regulations apply to all flights to, from and within Canada.
There is a rule surrounding being denied boarding. According to the Canadian Transportation Agency, it applies to overbooking situations and “a reason within the airline’s control” that is “not required for safety.”
“We should at least be compensated for the flight we were forced to pay to come home,” she said.
“The whole thing put such a damper on the entire trip. To come back from all of that and go straight to work… I think it caused stress on both my husband and I. I think we should also be compensated just for the emotional distress as well.”
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