First the Oil Price Shock and Now Peanut Shock

It never seems to get easier for the airlines. First it was the oil price spike which forced almost all airlines to cuts costs. The easiest way to cut costs was to trim the food menu from flights. So that brought the era of the ubiquitous peanuts on almost all domestic flights in the continental United States. But some people are complaining about the peanuts too.

Reacting to the distribution of peanuts on Northwest Airlines some potential passengers voiced their opinion in a local newspaper.

"This is a very disappointing development. My wife's allergy is so severe that if someone is sitting next to her and eating peanuts, the odor is enough to trigger an allergic reaction."

"Northwest is really out of touch with its customers and the reality of allergies to peanuts. What's wrong with pretzels?"

With all due respect to people who have peanut allergies or any allergies for that matter, the airline is a free business and it can choose to serve whatever makes the most business sense. Just because a few people complain about peanuts, the airline is under no obligation to change what it offers.

With deference to all the people who are complaining about the peanut problem, they are as free as the airlines to choose what they eat or which airline to fly or not to fly at all. They are under no obligation to eat the products the airline have to offer and neither is the airline forcing any person to eat what it offers.

This is how businesses are supposed to operate: give choices to the market and let the market decide if it wants it or not. If the market wants it the business survives, if not the business goes under.