DOT DISMISSES ALLERGY-RELATED COMPLAINT AGAINST SOUTHWEST
April 15, 2026
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On March 18, 2026, DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection formally dismissed a third-party complaint against Southwest Airlines which argued that the U.S. air carrier violated the Air Carrier Access Act by not allowing passengers with food allergies to preboard Southwest aircraft to wipe down their seating areas. In November 2022, several nonprofit organizations representing individuals with food allergies filed a complaint, contending that individuals with food allergies should have been permitted to preboard flights to wipe down their seating areas. According to the nonprofits, doing so would have substantially mitigated “life-threatening” dangers posed to passengers caused by even trace amounts of exposure. After acknowledging that the safety risks of dairy, egg, or shellfish allergies can be as severe as those of nut allergies, DOT explained that the right to preboard an aircraft to clean seating areas continues to only be tied to nut allergies. Given that Southwest reaffirmed its policy to permit preboarding for those with nut allergies, DOT determined that no further action was necessary and dismissed the complaint. If DOT were to expand accessibility protections to cover all food allergies, regulators explained that formal notice-and-comment rulemaking processes would be more appropriate than carrier-specific enforcement determinations.
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