Delta Airlines has a new policy they will not let you carry-on your instrument if it doesn't fit into the box. Trombones are too long and I suspect violin cases are also. Delta also will not allow you to gate check your instrument but will allow strollers to be gate checked!!! My daughter was forced to buy a ticket for her trombone. I am not aware of any other airlines with similar policies.

Might want to spread the word to avoid Delta if you are uncomfortable with checking your instrument.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MyAuditions,

You know what DELTA stands for, do you?

(D)on't (E)ver (L)eave (T)he (A)irport

Delta has always been jerks about it. Maybe it's just official now.

One of the recent International Musicians had an article on this topic.

I wish the Union would be able to make some headway on this. This is a huge source of stress for me.

A friend of mine, a violinest in Charlston Symphony, was recently flying back from nyc, she tried to take her violin on and they wouldn't even let her through security. She was forced to hire a car, drive home, with no refund on her ticket. I now will not fly Delta and urge others with carry on instruments not to.

Delta has always been the worst about their carry on policy.

Once when I was flying out of Denver the check-in agent would not let me go through security until I checked my viola. Would not even let me gate check. I had to check my viola case (which is a soft BAM case that easily fits into even the regional jet overhead compartments. But not a case that I would EVER trust to be thrown under a plane) and carry on my instrument by itself. I had to carry my viola through security, on the train to a different terminal, onto the plane, and hold it in my lap. Then make a connecting flight. When I got to my destination my case was lost with the rest of my luggage. I finally got it (with my bow) back around 2am the next day.

I had to fly Delta again last week. It was one of those deals where you walk out onto the tarmack to get on the plane. The person who takes your bags at the bottom of the stairs was like "Miss, miss..." I pretended I couldn't hear her, walked past, and put my instrument in the overhead.

AFM members can find some useful stuff about air travel with your instrument on the webpage - check out "travel tips for airlines" under the online library.

AVOID AMERICA WEST!!!

I've flown them many times with no problem, but tonight on the fourth leg of a four flight round trip journey, Mr. Greg Gilbert in Phoenix, the America West supervisor of Concourse A, would not let my violin on the plane. He said the FAA would fine him $11,000 (he said it many times) if he let "that violin" on the plane.

Unfortunately, I was thousands of miles from home and HAD to get back. I let them handcheck it - I would never do it again but was at such a loss at the time...FORTUNATELY nothing was broken, but the strings were completely loose, the bridge had moved and the case had clearly been shaken very hard as pockets had opened and dumped things out, which never happens in normal transit. The instrument was also freezing, although the same Mr. Gilbert told me it would be in a temperature controlled area.

In the future - what to do? I think I'll always pay the extra to fly nonstop, which at least limits the number of chances you're taking...flying earlier in the day would be helpful also - I was on the last flight to Detroit so there was no time to think and regroup.

A violin EASILY fits in the overhead compartment and I've flown throughout my life and never had this problem - but if somebody has something to prove, it is true that a violin does not fit in that little wire cage they have to show you the size you're allowed to carry on.

So I'll go see my brilliant luthier tomorrow to put everything back...and file a formal complaint with the airline, which I'm sure will be ever so effective...

also - I do know one other person who had the same problem with America West in Chicago, but managed to get on a later flight that same day.

Thankfully I've yet to have a problem checking my violin. I've usually flown United, American, Frontier, Southwest...no hangups. Sometimes there is a box but I have just ignored it and nobody has yet approached me to try to fit my case in it. Don't know if it helps but sometimes I kind of shoulder my violin off to the side away from the person checking everyone in at the gate, just so they don't get a direct view like if I was carrying it in my hand. I've somehow always managed to carry on my instrument and another backpack size bag.

Maybe having a smaller "travel case" could help....like a shaped case or something. Even if you have to carry your shoulder rest like in another bag or only take along two bows instead of four. You can get small shaped cases for under $100...not too bad if it helps avoid the hassle.

I suppose my main point in posting was this: Please do not have the hubris to think it can't happen to you - no matter how careful you are, as long as your case is bigger in any way than their "cage" they can refuse you.

I always had to buy extra ticket for my cello when I travel. Recently, I had to go to China for a concert and even I bought the extra ticket, they wouldn't let me in my cello - after delay of airplane becuase of me and big argument! I finally got my cello next to my seat. More funny thing is I paied same amount of airplane ticket fee for my cello and I wonder why ! they don't give me "mileage" from cello ticket...

The trick is to that you just have to be really sneaky about it. I've gotten on planes (both united and america west) with a back-pack full of clothing, a sleeping bag, and my horn (so 3 carryons), even after they made the announcement that they were strictly inforcing the 1+1 carryon rule. You just have to pile everything on your back and wear one of the those puffy winter parkas and when you approach the gate agent you sort of have to have to side-step the first couple of steps down the jet way so the gate agent can't see what you've got on your back. Then you just have to make sure that there is a big line of people behind you so the gate agent stops paying attention to you as soon as he grabs your ticket. Finally, get a seat as far back as possible so you will be one of the first to board so all the carryon will be available. My horn case is a lot bigger than violin cases and I've never had a problem.

There's a letter available to AFM members on the union's website, which is from the head of the Transportation Security Administration, and is supposed to make things easier. The catch is that the letter is only designed to get you and your instrument through security checkpoints, and does not actually guarantee that you can carry it onto the plane. (That's apparently up to the individual airlines.) However, since most airline gate agents are overworked and underinformed, I've had great success using the letter to get my viola onto all sorts of planes. The trick is quiet confidence. Never ask in advance whether you'll be allowed to bring the instrument on board. When you're called to board, have the letter handy, but don't flash it unless the gate agent objects. If you're told you can't take that thing on board, say, "Yeah, only I have this letter from the TSA, and..." Usually, this is all it takes for the harried gate agent to wave you through, usually with an annoyed, "Oh, yeah, fine, just go..." I've never had a gate agent actually ask to read the letter.

The down side of this procedure hit me like a ton of bricks last year when I was on a commuter flight with the entire personnel of the Arena League Football team from Green Bay. The head coach was right behind me in line, and when he heard my TSA spiel, he immediately piped up with, "What?! Is that all it takes? ****, I woulda brought my freakin' house with me if I'd known all I needed was a letter! Hey, you, come back here and lemme borrow that..." I've never moved down a jetway so fast.

I had the TSA letter, helped not at all with the ax-to-grind supervisor I ran into. And I hide my case on the far side from the supervisor, under my back pack and a jacket or sweater. I'm not kidding, this can happen to anyone.

What I've learned from friends and a helpful rep at the local AFM office is that printing out the linear measurement requirements for carry-ons for the specific airline that you're flying as well as knowing your case's exact measurements is the most effective thing you can do. Most cases do easily fit within the linear requirements of most airlines - and you don't fly the ones whose requirements are too small for your case.

From my own experience and those of others, the people who have not had problems are lucky - and I sincerely hope that the luck continues. Please just be aware of the realities and be as prepared as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by Bach:
and I wonder why they don't give me "mileage" from cello ticket...

Really ? Have you ever sent the missing mileage request back to the mileage service center rather that just showed your memebership to the check-in person ? If you have two tickets and two boarding passes, why they didn't give you double mileage ?? The staffs at the check-in counters always refuse complicated mileage request.

I have a friend who flies his cello under first name "Cello" last name his own, and then has "Cello" transfer the miles into his account.

quote:

Originally posted by mlsandor:
I have a friend who flies his cello under first name "Cello" last name his own, and then has "Cello" transfer the miles into his account.

really?? I always bought my cello ticket under first name "cello" but no last name...
I even called mileage service but they wouldn't give me mileage for that.. maybe I should write my last name on that ticket for next time.. hmmm... weird... thank you for that info!! ^^

There is an excellent story about the horrors of Delta Airlines instrument policy on the blog of violinist Ilkka Talvi. Delta No More

Since Talvi is interested in what Delta's response will be to his complaint, I thought I'd let everyone know what USAirways/America West had to say about my debacle.

First I got this response:
"Thank you for contacting the new US Airways, the combination of US. We
appreciate and welcome all inquiries, concerns and compliments, as your
feedback is important to us. I apologize this experience with our airline
was not entirely satisfactory. You have every right to expect dependable
transportation as well as courteous and professional assistance from our
personnel. I have forwarded a copy of your letter to our Phoenix Manger to
discuss with the employee and handle the matter internally. We welcome
hearing from our customers for we believe this is an excellent way of
pinpointing areas of our operation where improvements are needed. Thank you
again for writing."

In other words, too bad. I wrote and said that I felt this was an inappropriate response to the severity of the treatment I received. Their response to that was to send me a $25 coupon off a flight.

However, I will never fly USAirways again, and am giving my Delta miles to a friend who is not a musician - and will never buy a ticket from either again!

I ditched my rectangular fiddle case and switched to a tiny GEWA shaped case about ten years ago after having had a "close call" when boarding a flight to Boston. At the time, I managed to convince the crew to let me store my instrument in the pilot's personal coat closet, but after that scare I decided that I would not try to press my luck in the future.

The carrying strap hooks are located on the back of the case(rather than the side), so it looks like I'm carrying a small backpack. It accommodates a shoulder rest, too---I use a Wolf Superflexible and it collapes to fit within the "neck" area of the case.

I've never flown on Delta or America West, but in the past ten years I have taken numerous flights with my GEWA and I'm still knocking on wood.

Just my two cents.

When I was 16, I had an awful experience with being forced to gate check my violin on a Delta flight from Seattle to Baltimore. When my parents greeted me in Baltimore I was in tears. My father stopped the flight attendants and got each of their names before we left the airport. When I got home I started a lengthy letter writing campaign with Delta. At first the responses I got were along the lines of we're sorry for the inconvenience but that is our policy. I was very persistent and continued writing letters until finally I got a response that it was acceptable to carry my instrument on the plane and keep it in the overhead bin. I kept that letter in my violin case until 9/11 when all the restrictions changed and the details of the letter became obsolete. The point of the story is persistence. Because I kept writing letters I was finally given permission by evil Delta to bring my violin onboard. If more people expressed to the airline executives the importance of bringing these valuable instruments onto planes I think it would make a difference, especially since the airlines are competing so much for our business these days.

The other thing I wanted to say is that I spoke to a friend who is a Delta pilot about all of this. His advice was that if there is a problem at the gate ask to speak with the pilot. The pilot's main job is to get the plane off the ground on time. They will do just about anything to make that happen, including putting your instrument in the crew storage area or another private area.

FYI - Since that terrible incident with Delta I haven't flown them again. It truly was an awful experience.

A humorous close - A famous violist once told me a story of how he got to the gate and the crew member asked what kind of instrument he was carrying - she was looking at a list of accepted carry-on instruments. He glanced at the list and the first one he saw was a flute. He told her it was a flute and she smiled and sent him to the plane. Whatever works!