What a musician REALLY does not wan to see in an airport

[Fairportfan]

"Wanna see something really scary?"

1965 Gibson ES-335 gets off the plane...



Tom Paxton recounts a similar experience (so long ago he assumes his audience will get an offhand reference to Braniff...) Never wrong or anger a bard.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I believe Aniken Skywalker said it best...

NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

Having said that, he's got no chance unless he purchased insurance on his luggage separately. I used to work for AA, over in the Cargo department, and passenger baggage has the same overall policy:

"Pack it carefully. Baggage can be subjected to: Weights in excess of 200 lbs placed on top of it, submersion in water for one minute, temperatures in excess of 150*F or under -40*F for a period of time in excess of two hours, and shifting in the baggage compartment may result in agitation and vibrations with aforementioned weights on top of it. Fragile goods must be able to withstand these conditions, or the Airline is not responsible for damages which occur. It is suggested that any fragile goods fly as carry-on, and many musicians purchase a seat for their instrument to ensure it does not get damaged."

And yes, this is quoted in a single breath.

Delta will claim insufficient packaging and not pay a dime. Burden of proof is now on the individual, and he would need to hire a lawyer to get Delta to even listen to any evidence he might be able to provide.

[Dave]

Ouch. That's definitely a ruin-your-whole-week sort of sight.

Back in the early 80s I saw Oregon play at McCabe's in Santa Monica... small intimate place, incredible concert. In introducing the song "Vessel", Collin Walcott brought out the vessel for which it was named... a two-mouthed clay pot (I forget the formal name of the instrument)... and explained that it had arrived on the plane that day in a half-dozen pieces. It had been superglued back together that afternoon and he wasn't sure it would hold together when he played it... fortunately it did. (Walcott died in a car crash on a band tour a year or two after that... sad loss of an amazing musician. )

Hand-carrying valuable instruments is definitely a good idea... not 100% assurance they'll come through OK but I think the odds are much better. My wife fell in love with an ornately-decorated dramnya (ethnic lute) on a trip in Bhutan some years ago. Our guide Sangay warned us that she didn't think it would survive the trip, but helped us find cardboard and padding to make a case for it and I carried to home as hand-luggage in the airplane overhead comparments. Luck was with us, it made it OK and it's mounted on our livingroom wall today.

[Fairportfan]

Hand-carrying valuable instruments is definitely a good idea... not 100% assurance they'll come through OK but I think the odds are much better.

The article points out that he tried to and they wouldn't let him...

[Dave]

Hand-carrying valuable instruments is definitely a good idea... not 100% assurance they'll come through OK but I think the odds are much better.

The article points out that he tried to and they wouldn't let him...

Oh, there was an article link hiding there? (checks...). Sure 'nuff... hiding in plain sight in tinyfontland!

The article doesn't say whether he actually tried to buy it a seat, which would have guaranteed it space. He seems to have wanted to transport it as standard carry-on luggage in "available space", and it may have been that there wasn't enough overhead compartment space available (it would probably have used up a whole bin due to its long shape). With so many people wanting to carry-on their rollerboard suitcases and not check luggage at all, it's not at all unusual for flights these days to run out of overhead compartment space. Some passengers' "carry-on" bags can't be accommodated and end up being checked at the gate instead. I've had my bags "bumped" that way several times, especially when I wasn't early enough in getting to the gate.

Most regrettable! I hope it can be repaired properly. Paging Domingo Montoya!

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Hand-carrying valuable instruments is definitely a good idea... not 100% assurance they'll come through OK but I think the odds are much better.

The article points out that he tried to and they wouldn't let him...

Of course not, the size of a guitar exceeds the dimensions for carry-on luggage. As it was more than 20 inches in any one dimension, it would be refused. You have to actually buy it a seat for itself for it to go in the passenger compartment.

[Fairportfan]

The article doesn't say whether he actually tried to buy it a seat, which would have guaranteed it space. He seems to have wanted to transport it as standard carry-on luggage in "available space", and it may have been that there wasn't enough overhead compartment space available (it would probably have used up a whole bin due to its long shape).

The article also points out that he had usually carried it in-cabin before, in fact (i believe) on an earlier leg of this trip.

I have flown internationally on flights on which a guitarist was allowed to hand-carry his guitar without buying it a seat. (That was many years ago, but it did happen.)

[Dave]

The article doesn't say whether he actually tried to buy it a seat, which would have guaranteed it space. He seems to have wanted to transport it as standard carry-on luggage in "available space", and it may have been that there wasn't enough overhead compartment space available (it would probably have used up a whole bin due to its long shape).

The article also points out that he had usually carried it in-cabin before, in fact (i believe) on an earlier leg of this trip.

I have flown internationally on flights on which a guitarist was allowed to hand-carry his guitar without buying it a seat. (That was many years ago, but it did happen.)

It looks to some extent as if it's up to the discretion of the airline.

Remember, "hand carry" does not mean that you can carry the thing in your hands through the the whole flight. The regulation change in 2012 does not exempt the guitar (or other instrument) from normal flight-safety handling rules. You must still have the guitar stowed under your seat, or in an overhead compartment, during takeoff and landing, unless you've bought an additional seat for it (and presumably in this case you must be able to seat-belt it into place so it can't become a projectile during an accident).

The only stowage space that you're pretty much guaranteed to have available to you, personally, is under the seat in front of you... that's yours. There's no way that a guitar would fit there. If it's to be treated as hand luggage, it has to go in an overhead compartment or other cabin baggage compartment, and those are all shared storage space (usually "first come, first served"). They also vary in size and number from one type of airplane to another.

I don't doubt that he was being truthful about being able to hand-carry and stow his guitar on other flights, including one that same day. That doesn't guarantee that he could necessarily have legally and safely stowed the guitar in the same way on this flight.

The overhead compartments might have all been too small to fit the guitar. Some general-service and commuter planes have much smaller overhead bins than, say, 767s do (some just don't have the space, and some predate the "rollerboard suitcase"). It's possible that he was boarding a plane which simply had no in-cabin baggage compartment large enough to hold his guitar, and the staff may have known that.

It's also possible that the compartments were all full (as I suggested earlier might be the case).

The 2012 legislation that the article refers to, pointedly does not guarantee or insist that an instrument can be carried in the cabin. It says that the airline

"... shall permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument in the aircraft cabin, without charging the passenger a fee in addition to any standard fee that carrier may require for comparable carry-on baggage, if—
‘‘(A) the instrument can be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment in the aircraft cabin or under a passenger seat, in accordance with the requirements for carriage of carry-on baggage or cargo established by the Administrator; and
‘‘(B) there is space for such stowage at the time the passenger boards the aircraft."

I read this as granting the instrument a conditional exception to the usual "length, width, and height" limits for carry-on bags (the airline can't refuse it because "it's longer than our policy permits"), but it does require that it be possible to stow the instrument safely in the aircraft and that space to do so actually be available at the time of boarding. It does not give the instrument owner the right to insist that it be taken as carry-on and that somebody else's carry-on bags be yanked out of a compartment to make space for it. First come, first served.

So, if the airline staff could legitimately say "Sorry, sir, there's no overhead compartment on your plane in which it will fit" or "Sorry, sir, this is a very full flight, and the cabin crew has told us that the overheads are full and that we're being forced to door-check peoples' bags", then this guy was out of luck.

If it was a very full flight, then he might not even have had the "buy it a seat" option available. There may have been no way at all for him to transport the guitar on that flight, other than as checked baggage.

I don't know whether he'll be able to make the case that Delta violated the law, or not. If they didn't (and they may not have!), then the statutory "checked baggage" compensation limit is likely to apply, and unless Delta decides to be generous in the interest of customer relations (read "publicity") or unless he has purchased his own insurance, he'll be doubly out of luck.

A sucky situation, no doubt about it.

[Jabberwonky]

I have to fly a lot with this job, the flight from Dubai to the States is 15.5 or 16 hour flight alone, athe enforcement of those rules seem to be arbitrary at best. I have been on flights where passengers were allowed to bring a 'stack' of three smallish suitcases into the cabin, speared on the tow handle of the one with wheels. And asked by a sterotypical little old grandma to help her stow her roll on only to grunt a 50lb load up into the overhead storage.
Quite frankly every time I get on a plane now, I sit and glare at what they let into the cabin.

[Fairportfan]

If i ever fly agaon, i'll have my lega carry-on and a canvas shoulder bag.

And if they give me any grief ... it's my purse.

[Julie]

I have to fly a lot with this job, the flight from Dubai to the States is 15.5 or 16 hour flight alone, athe enforcement of those rules seem to be arbitrary at best. I have been on flights where passengers were allowed to bring a 'stack' of three smallish suitcases into the cabin, speared on the tow handle of the one with wheels. And asked by a sterotypical little old grandma to help her stow her roll on only to grunt a 50lb load up into the overhead storage.
Quite frankly every time I get on a plane now, I sit and glare at what they let into the cabin.

I do something similar...I will pay the stupid baggage fees in order to a) avoid the fluid restrictions for my toiletries, and b) not have to worry about overhead compartment space.

And you're right about the enforcement of the rules being arbitrary. The last flight I was on, they started gate-checking carry-ons because "the flight was fully booked and there wasn't anymore overhead compartment space." Anything that was a large duffle or roller-case was gate-checked without exception. I was in the final boarding group, and was (yet again) glad I just had my normal bag for an iPod, headphones, and my Nook. The lady right behind me in line was pissed off that she'd have to get her carry-on from the baggage claim area when she was supposed to be running straight to a meeting from the flight. She was even more pissed when we got on the plane and there are at least five completely empty overhead compartments in the front half of the plane alone. Something similar to that happened on the initial flight of that particular trip. I was starting to think that the airline employees just wanted to make people gate-check to avoid the wait for people to find storage space before takeoff.

[Fairportfan]

After the big firestorm, Delta has agreed to pay for his guitar, and given him vouchers for two free future flights.

And Gibson ...

Well, Gibson reached out to him, and:

Meanwhile, Gibson contacted Schneider, too, offering repairs on the damaged 1965 ES-335 as well as a brand-new 50th anniversary reissue of a 1963 Gibson ES-335, free of charge.

"We all know Gibson guitars rock," Schneider wrote in an email to Yahoo. "But at this moment, the Gibson company is rocking even harder than Pete Townshend's Les Paul." Schneider says he plans to purchase additional guitars from Gibson for an upcoming charity auction.

Full story - the original story, plus extensive followup coverage, here.

[Dave]

After the big firestorm, Delta has agreed to pay for his guitar, and given him vouchers for two free future flights.

And Gibson ...

Much happy-endingness!

[Julie]

Well that's just awesome!