Say Goodbye to Southwest Airlines Peanuts, an Airline Icon
Southwest Airlines will retire its most notable snack starting August 1, 2018.
The airline, which served more than 106 million peanuts in 2017, announced Tuesday it will be removing the famous snack from all flights because of concerns over nut allergies.
"Peanuts forever will be part of Southwest's history and DNA," Southwest said in a statement. "However, to ensure the best on-board experience for everyone, especially for customers with peanut-related allergies, we've made the difficult decision to discontinue serving peanuts on all flights."
The FDA identifies peanuts as the sixth-most common allergenic food — the legumes and their seven other counterparts make up for 90% of all food allergy-related reactions. Southwest Airlines joins other carriers like United and American Airlines, which do not serve packaged peanuts, and Delta, which will not serve the peanuts if a passenger informs the airline of their allergy prior to their flight.
"We'll miss the peanuts, but, at the end of the day, it's our Southwest Employees and the Hospitality they deliver that set us apart, far more than peanuts ever could," Southwest said.