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June 18, 2006

Musicians's union urges boycott of instrument-mulching Delta

Smashed_guitar003

Delta Airlines is forcing musicians to check their instruments, often with dire consequences for the gear.

Dolf of ANAblog is mad as hell and calling for a boycott.

He wants the airlines to give musical instruments priority over ordinary carry-on baggage when space is limited. If it's a choice between a fragile violin and checkable rolling suitcase, the only reasonable policy is to give the instrument absolute priority.

Dolf writes:

So, I am passing on a message from Thomas F. Lee, American Federation of Musicians President:

"...The AFM, over the past two years, has worked diligently and crafted proposals that create standards applicable to all airlines. This would ensure that musicians would only need to be familiar with one policy that applied to all airlines. And this policy could be reviewed by the airline industry and the AFM if modifications were needed.

Although the airlines have never expressly agreed to the terms of this policy, most have cooperated with musicians when there has been a need to stow expensive, fragile instruments. Regrettably that is not the case with all of the airlines.

have received many complaints that Delta Airlines officials and representatives have consistently prevented musicians from carrying instruments on board. While I have no way of knowing whether every allegation is true, I have received enough complaints to convince me that Delta is either not properly instructing its personnel regarding this matter, or that it simply has no interest in the problems facing musicians. Not surprisingly, there have been many reports of instrument damage from Delta's placement of instruments in the cargo area.

The Federation has spoken with Delta's representatives, but without success. It appears that Delta has no concern about instrument damage. Ads a result the AFM, its members, and all musicians must take a different approach to this problem. We must publicize this unfair treatment.

I am asking all musicians and performing artists to boycott Delta. The AFM will continue to attempt to convince Delta to change their policies. In the meantime, we must use our economic power to demonstrate to Delta officials that their policies will not be tolerated and that we will count on the power of 100,000 members to spread the word that Delta is unfair to musicians...

...It is not our desire to damage relations with our brothers and sisters who work for Delta. However, then Delta officials ignore the problems that musicians encounter, we are left with no choice but to bring this to the public's attention. Please do everything possible to assist your fellow musicians in this effort."

This article at Violinist.com makes the following key points: Baggage handlers aren't trained to handle musical instruments, airlines aren't liable for the replacement costs of damaged instruments, the Transportation Safety Administration has asked all airlines to try to accommodate musicians traveling with instruments, and Delta has pointedly ignored this directive.

Thanks to Delta's intransigence, violins, oboes, and guitars that could easily be accommodated in the cabin are being flung into cargo holds and often seriously damaged in the process, with scant compensation for the victims. It's not like cellists and bassists expect to take their instruments as carry-on. These people usually buy extra seats for their instruments, or check them in special cases and face wildly expensive and inconsistent fees for the privilege.

Other airlines have made good faith efforts to comply with TSA guidelines, but Delta has not. Until Delta learns to make reasonable allowances for their business travellers who happen to be musicians, they don't deserve our business.

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Comments

I certainly feel sorry for anyone whose instrument gets lost or broken. But I'd rather see the airlines all enforce the actual carry-on rules the same for everyone and more strictly than they do now. So long as I'm paying the same amount for my ticket I've got as much right to the carry on space as someone with an instrument or who went wild in duty-free or whatever.

Matt, that's absurd. Unlike run-of-the-mill carry-on baggage, it is simply not possible to check a violin. The only safe spot for it is the overhead bin. What you are effectively saying is that musicians should not be allowed to fly.

Well rule number one is whatever with Delta. They were one of a couple of airlines that were busted some years ago, for screening job applicants for gayness. I'm not gay, but I don't believe in being a dick to them either (and I mean, really, you're going to try to say 'no gays' in the travel industry?). I was already boycotting them for that.

I'm a musician, and I 1) have had precious items (though thankfully, not an instrument) smashed to bits by careless baggage handlers, and 2) prize my instruments above any other possession. If the carrier can't guarantee the protection of something so important, they should allow us to look after them ourselves.

If there isn't enough space to go around, bags that can be checked deserve priority over bags that absolutely cannot go in the cargo hold. Furthermore, we're not even necessarily talking about special exemptions for large carry ons. Sometimes there just isn't room to stow all the regulation-sized carry-on items in the cabin. If a flue case and a roll-on suitcase are competing for the last spot in the carry-on bin, it's obvious which one should get stowed. The flute player paid just as much as everyone else, and he or she needs the space way more.

It doesn't take much to make this work. It's just a matter of asking for volunteers in a crunch. This kind of thing happens all the time. There's invariably someone who's willing to check their carry-on if it turns out that someone really needs that space, especially if the flight attendant asks nicely.

DJA
Or they can fly another airline, almost always a choice.

Someone with a violin in a case would surely want the entire section of overhead to him or her self, ie nothing above or below it. The one guy with a violin will taking de facto taking as much overhead space as two or three other passengers.

And will the violin carrying passengers agree not to take with them any other carryon luggage, or do they get to do that too?

I fly a lot, and there simply is no damned room on these planes anymore. The space taken by a musician is taken away from other passengers in a zero-sum game.

There is another side to this story.


Phantom -- first of all, a guy with a violin will NOT take as much overhead space as two or three other passengers' carry-ons. I have a violin in a case and it is smaller than many carry-ons i've seen recently in planes. And it does not need to be the only item in an overhead bin -- it can be packed in with other things -- the issue behind the cargo area is that items are thrown into the plane, not handled carefully, etc.

I would assume that someone with instruments to be stowed in the overhead compartments will not have 2 other carry-on items. Musicians are nice people too.

there is no place for an airline to treat musical instruments like delta's doing (and possibly other carriers too).

thanks for the info, lindsay and DJA.

There must be provision made for musicians who need to fly. Musicians (even violinists) who fly often should buy or build Anvil cases for their instruments, but the fact is that not enough care is taken, and these are extremely precious items. A solution must be found. For the moment, caring for them ourselves is the only one that seems to work.

(and what los anjalis said--of course a violinist isn't going to take three times as much overhead space as another passenger. Come on, Phantom, don't make me waste my "come on, Phantom"s now--hurricane season is approaching again.)

los anjalis

I love the music from a violin/fiddle more than anything in the world. The sweetest, most subtle sounds in the universe.

Violins are precious cargo, I'll never deny that.

Phantom -- alright man, we're cool, we're cool.

Personally I'd like to see airlines actually enforce their carry-on rules. People routinely take carryons that exceed the stated maximum by a factor of two. I'm all in favor of accomodating special needs, be it instruments, or babies, or whatever. But having what little space is available filled to overflowing because somebody is too damn precious to wait an extra few minutes at baggage claim is ridiculous.

This issue dates back to at least 1993, which is when I first had a problem with them (involving a guitar, so at least those complaining about size can do so with reason here, though I'd point out that even a guitar case fits comfortably in most overhead bins with room for a couple other bags along the neck). The flight in question did have large enough overhead bins, but because my inbound connecting flight came in late, they had filled up by the time I could get to the gate. There was still space at least in the 1st-class clothing rack area, but Delta refused to put the instrument in there, either.

Despite being in a stiff-exterior padded case, and being promised that it would be gently handled, the guitar took cosmetic damage around the bottom edge -- not enough to impair the sound, but enough to make me swear never to fly Delta again if I had anything to say about it. I've never had a problem on any other airline, and I've warned other musicians never to fly Delta as well.

Nowadays, although I rarely travel with an instrument anymore, I have a similar concern about my photographic equipment, as my travel bag turns out to be *just slightly* larger than official dimensions when I have to pack a full selection of lenses. It will still fit even under a seat, if I carefully wriggle it a bit, and in the overhead compartments of most aircraft, but it won't fit overhead in some of the smaller ones, and if someone demands that it be placed in the main storage because it's technically oversize, I'll have to abandon the flight -- that's several thousand dollars of delicate optics that cannot just be hurled into a storage bay.

When I travel with it, it's my only carry-on; fortunately, it's never been an issue so far. But I wouldn't want to trust my luck to Delta with it.

I often fly with pounds upon pounds of out-of-print books - many more than I can fit in a standard carry-on. It's hard for me to imagine why someone's factory-issue acoustic guitar should get priority over my hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of books and papers that I'll be liable to a library for if they're lost.

The only solution is to set up an Antiques Roadshow-style army of appraisers to examine every bag for worth, multiply that worth by likelihood of loss or damage to that particular item, and give priority to the winner.

I often fly with pounds upon pounds of out-of-print books - many more than I can fit in a standard carry-on. It's hard for me to imagine why someone's factory-issue acoustic guitar should get priority over my hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of books and papers that I'll be liable to a library for if they're lost.

The only solution is to set up an Antiques Roadshow-style army of appraisers to examine every bag for worth, multiply that worth by likelihood of loss or damage to that particular item, and give priority to the winner.

I think we've clearly established that there is absolutely no solution.

It's hard for me to imagine why someone's factory-issue acoustic guitar should get priority over my hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of books and papers that I'll be liable to a library for if they're lost.

Because it's extremely unlikely for your books to be lost for good (usually when a bag is lost it's found and brought to you a few days late), but on the other hand it's very likely for the said acoustic guitar to get damaged.

Wow, Alon, I'm sorry it was apparently too difficult for you to read the second paragraph of my comment where I suggested that the actual appropriate decision would require a calculation to "multiply [an item's] worth by likelihood of loss or damage to that particular item."

Nice effort, though.

I think people are missing the point here. Delta is being targeted because their gate agents will not let musicians board the aircraft with their instruments in the first place, regardless of whether the flight is full or whether there's extra room in the overheads.

In the overwhelming majority of cases there is plenty of room for everyone's gear, instruments included. When there isn't, it's a simple matter of (as Lindsay says) asking nicely for volunteers to check their monster roll-ons so that someone's Strad doesn't get smashed to bits in the cargo hold. This is in fact what happens on every airline except Delta, who seem to have a bug up their ass on this particular issue for some reason.

Wow, Alon, I'm sorry it was apparently too difficult for you to read the second paragraph of my comment where I suggested that the actual appropriate decision would require a calculation to "multiply [an item's] worth by likelihood of loss or damage to that particular item."

My response indicates that when the item isn't as delicate as a musical instrument, the probability of loss or damage is infinitesimal.

regardless of whether the flight is full or whether there's extra room in the overheads.

In the overwhelming majority of cases there is plenty of room for everyone's gear, instruments included. When there isn't, it's a simple matter of (as Lindsay says) asking nicely for volunteers to check their monster roll-ons so that someone's Strad doesn't get smashed to bits in the cargo hold. This is in fact what happens on every airline except Delta,

Worth repeating--we seem to have found a good solution. And yes, there is most often room, and yes, that is a simple matter that won't cost too many precious business-seconds.

I have bought many seats on airplanes to belt a harp or a string bass next to me. Boycotting Delta is no problem for me. But for the last ten years whenever I fly the instruments are shipped ahead. FedEx. Since doing that I have never been sitting on a stage empty handed in San Francisco while my instruments were being found in Denver.

Fedex (and no, I'm not working and never have worked for them) has always been excellent at what they do. I trust them implicitly, whenever you can afford to use them, good idea.

For me, the biggest pain in the ass about travelling is people who think they are something special and deserve extra consideration. They seem to be the ones who cause 99% of the hassle and aggravation for the rest of us. And that includes musicians who think they deserve special treatment as well as all the people who are destined for a particular spot in the ninth circle of hell for bringing oversized carry-ons.

The FedEx solution above (i.e. ship your cargo with someone who specializes in cargo rather than cramming it on a plane intended primarily to carry people) seems like a good one to me. But it also occurs to me that the cases used for instruments aren't much different than the ones used 30-40 years ago. Perhaps someone could invent a case that provides more protection than these thin shells with light padding that so many people seem to use?

Actually, I think they have very good Anvil-type cases for most makes now. I just got a Fender Jazz Bass, and the case that came with it was probably fine even for the EgyptAir baggage handlers (note to anyone: trust Delta's baggage handlers before you trust EgyptAir's gorillas). I would check the Jazz Bass and feel good about it. But I'm not surprised to hear the horror stories, and it seems completely ridiculous to make people check smaller instruments like the violins or flutes mentioned above.

Anyone else familiar with the Tom Paxton song "Thank You, Republic Airlines", which he wrote to, well, commemorate the breaking of his guitar's neck?
"My guitar case was so strong and nothing could go through it -
Way to go, Republic, only you could do it!"
and so forth.
I'm a bit puzzled as to why this should even be a problem except on weenie little airplanes. Shouldn't most of us be getting our carry-ons under the seat in front anyway, which should leave lots of room in the overhead bins for instruments and other delicates? Or am I delusional and there's really a Good Reason for honkin' great quantities of carry-on luggage?

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