<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> >Fran~Oregon wrote: >I posted a note with negative experiences on American Airlines with the >meals they claimed to be gluten free & were obviously not....I received a >reply today that acknowledged their need to work with the food service >people on getting this corrected....I feel it is appropriate to >publicly announce that they made an honest effort to remedy the >situation. List Members: What a coincidence that Fran posted this at this same time that I had planned to post a copy of this letter I am sending off to American Airlines about my own negative experience this past vacation flight! I guess I had never caught Fran's original post, but am glad she received an encouraging response from them. Some people might say, why bother with a letter - just use a different carrier. Well, overall I like their service AND MOST OF ALL if we want to see changes made, then we need to write letters, make calls, and do whatever we need to do to help make it happen. I encourage anyone else who has had this type of experience to do the same. Below is the copy of my letter to American Airlines. I plan to mail it Monday or Tuesday. Fran, please let me know if you have a better address. - N:) American Airlines P.O. Box 619612, MD 2400 DFW Airport, Texas 75261-9612 Attention: Customer Relations Dear American Airlines: For years, my family and I have flown American Airlines and have always been pleased. The American Airlines service I received on our most recent vacation, however, proved to be a most distressing experience for me. Three months ago, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. This condition involves life threatening food allergies. Due to severe reactions and long term physical effects, I am unable to eat any foods containing wheat, oats, barley, rye and food products derived from these grains. Prior to this vacation, I called American Airlines and placed a special request for gluten free meals on my flights. The American Airlines representative efficiently took my order, which was delivered to me in flight with equal efficiency. That, however, was where the efficiency ended. Two of the three meals I was served were NOT gluten free - a situation which could have placed a newly diagnosed Celiac still unfamiliar with the dietary restrictions in an allergic reaction situation! Fortunately, I was able to catch the errors. I would like to also mention that flight attendant "Cindy" on flight # 1543 caught one of the mistakes immediately and was extremely sympathetic to the problem. This, none the less, did nothing to satiate my hunger while others around me ate. My breakfast meal on flight # 1172 included a box of bran flakes - poison to a Celiac! The snack on my return flight # 1543 was a rather delicious looking sandwich on a whole wheat bun. Also included was a packet of non-gluten free mustard and a wheat based chocolate chip cookie. I repeat, if I were a new Celiac trusting that these meals were indeed gluten free as requested, I could have suffered a severe physical reaction. I would like to add, I was happy to find a rice cake included in each meal, which is approved on the gluten free foods list. In each case, however, the rice cake was quite stale and unpalatable! Another disappointment! Our vacation took us from Phoenix to Grand Cayman. Such a distance requires many travel hours. It is not much for me to expect an edible and safe meal just as all other paying passengers. If, however, American Airlines is unable to provide this accurate service for special dietary needs persons like myself, then it behooves American Airlines to inform the individual in order that they may be prepared with an alternate food source! Persons with special dietary needs are frequently not so by choice. A health factor is usually involved. Dealing with the food restrictions is certainly difficult enough without having to deal with an experience like this. I beseech you to learn about the possible severe reactions involved when mistakes of this type are made. Educate your food service personnel in the various special dietary needs in order that they can accurately fill meal requests. The reputation of American Airlines and peoples' lives may be at stake! Thank you for looking into this matter. I look forward to your reply. Nina :) '89FX3/Coupe (SAM)