[Dixielandjazz] Musical Instrument As Baggage on Airlines

[Scott Anthony]

The Taylor Guitar story is at least 3 years old and it is definitely true.

The recent FAA bill passed by Congress and signed by the President that was 
mentioned on the DJML last week solves the problem as far as I can tell, at 
least for instruments up to the size of guitars as carry-ons as long as they 
fit in the overhead compartment, and even string basses and tubas if an 
extra seat is purchased.

A side commentary related to this: About 15 years ago I was scheduled to 
play banjo with Bob Schulz's band at the Coos Bay, Oregon festival in March 
of whatever year it was. We had tickets on Alaska Airlines (who were also 
major sponsors of the band that year as it turned out, which is sort of 
ironic) out of Oakland. I had my leather banjo gigbag since I had never 
before had any trouble carrying it onboard an Alaska Airlines flight, and I 
checked with the attendant at the top of the jetway about carrying it on, 
and she said it would be fine. Another local band boarded the plane just 
before us with instruments, including a large tenor sax case and trombone, 
but when Mike Starr and I got to the plane door, the attendant told us we 
could not carry on my banjo case or Mike's trombone. I told her we had been 
given an OK at the other end of the jetway, but she insisted that we check 
our instruments, which I could not possibly do with a leather gigbag. The 
conversation became a bit heated to the point that a security person started 
to approach, so we backed off and wound up not going to the festival.

When I got home I detailed the events, including the conflicting permissions 
to carry on the instruments, the attendants names and lousy attitudes, the 
fact that they were sponsors of the band, etc. in a letter to the president 
of Alaska Airlines. In addition, I mentioned that they removed the wrong 
checked bag from the plane! Some poor guy didn't get his bag in Portland and 
my bag went even though I wasn't on the plane - a bad security breach which 
I'm sure the president was really happy to hear about.

I also downloaded the Contra Costa County (where Oakland is located) small 
claims court forms and filed a small claims suit for lost pay and costs. 
Over the next few weeks I scanned and put everything that transpired between 
the airline and me up on my website with META keyword tags starting with 
"Alaska Airlines Problems" so that search engines might find it.

The small claims court date was set for around June, and about a week before 
that date I got a letter postponing the date until August because the 
airline was "not ready" which was bull#$*t I'm sure. Then, about a week 
before the August rescheduled date I got a call at work asking, "what would 
it take to settle this?" I wound up getting my lost pay for the weekend plus 
the court filing fee in return for "removing all information from your 
website."

The upshot is that, even 15 years ago, the internet (and some persistence) 
can do wonders to make the airlines and other companies "do the right thing" 
when they have screwed up.

Scott Anthony

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <andy.ling at quantel.com>
To: <santh at comcast.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 3:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Musical Instrument As Baggage on Airlines


>> "Mike Woitowicz" <banjomusic at charter.net>
>
>> This is a follow-up to the many discussions on this list regarding
>> shipping musical instruments as baggage on airlines. Here's how to
>> get back at the airline if they damage your instrument. I can't
>> vouch for this story's truthfulness, but it shows the power of the
>> internet if it is. And the guy sings pretty well too!
>>
>> Here's the video http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5YGc4zOqozo
>>
>
> Great story. I hope it's true.
>
> There are actually three videos and the second one has an almost
> OKOM backing (clarinet & tuba)
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45E0uGVyeg
>
> Enjoy
>
> Andy Ling
>
>
>
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