Friday, January 9, 2015

Aero tolerance

An interesting development:

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a final rule implementing section 403 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, requiring U.S. airlines to accept musical instruments as carry-on or checked baggage on commercial passenger flights, provided that certain conditions are met. The rule states musicians must store smaller instruments in an approved location either overhead or under the seat, but that even oddly shaped instruments such as a violin or guitar will be recognized as approved carry-ons and will be allotted space on a first come, first serve basis.

Many other international airlines could follow suit but some over-conservatism might prevent this from happening. These parties would most probably cite security issues as the over-riding concern. There are current technology in place to scan/ x-ray baggage contents so it's a matter if understanding the plight of musicians who would want personal attention for their instruments because they know airport handlers are idiots when it comes to respecting a musical instruments in transit.

Extract: Hyperbot

3 comments:

Ijau D. Koceng said...

i've experienced this kind of "horror" with my charvel so-cal on KUL-BTU flight

they didn't allow my guitar (in gigbag, yes) as carry-in and asked to check it in as baggage

fortunately... it survived the journey without any mishap

subversion.sg said...

i have friends in this industry & the baggage handlers, according to them, are simply b**tards when it comes to respecting such properties.

Unknown said...

Working in an airline, I do not recommend you try this in a budget carrier.. Limited space and the only storage you get is the overhead bins, if there's space. If you come onboard with your gigbag on a full flight and expect to squeeze it in, be prepared to have it offloaded from the cabin into the cargo hold and there's nothing that you can do about it. Buy the best quality flightcase you can afford and get it insured. I cannot stress this enough. Even I don't get first dibs when I travel with my gear and usually pay a little extra for priority boarding.