I thank all noble Lords who have spoken today, particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, for her intervention. I was very interested to hear about the fast air exchange; I shall take her advice and look it up. I do not see that the fast air exchange helped the little girl aged four who became affected by a passenger who ate nuts a few rows behind her, but it could be that that is not a technical solution that is available to all airlines. I will go certainly go and investigate that. Presumably, that is one of the reasons why buffer zones have been created by many airlines, such as Delta Airlines, to create a space where the passenger can sit and feel risk-free from their allergy.
I thank my noble friend Lord Mendelsohn for his contribution and his list of questions, which the Minister did not address. Actually, I was quite disappointed with the Minister’s reply. She said that most airlines do this. Most airlines do but not all of them, and that is the central point of my amendment. We need to ensure that there is a level playing field across the airlines in relation to security. There is good practice but there is also bad practice; there are good initiatives but there are also no initiatives; actions are taken but there is also a refusal to take action.
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It seems to me that this would be quite an easy amendment to add to the Bill. It would allow regulations and guidelines to be developed by the industry so that consumers could be clear that, when they flew with any airline that operates in the UK, they would be given a certain level of protection by the cabin crew. The current policy is confused and actions are not taken. I feel that British Airways has let down a
number of its passengers. We should not have to wait until somebody dies before we see the need for legislation in this area.
Although I will obviously withdraw the amendment, at this stage I would be very grateful if the Minister could reply to the questions put by my noble friend Lord Mendelsohn and facilitate a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport for me and other interested parties before Report, when I shall probably want to bring the amendment back. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.