I am not a musician, but a friend at work is and he recently found out that since December people are authorized to bring musical instruments on board as carry-on luggage. There is even a letter issuing this statement in case security gives anyone any lip.
Weren’t you always allowed to bring instruments on as carry-on luggage? I never had a problem taking my flute with me on aircraft, no matter where I was going.
Yes, it did get a few strange looks from the guard watching the x-ray, and I had to open the case a number of times so they could see it was just a flute, but nobody ever stopped me from bringing it aboard.
Hmm, maybe not such an issue anymore as my instrument is mostly a laptop and microphone. And I am not sure that my bandmates keyboard would not be considered too big. Wayyyyy to big.
Post-9/11 many airlines had a sort of moratorium on bringing instruments (such as guitars) on board as carry-on luggage. Anytime a musician was travelling he/she would have to contact the airline to get specifics about what could or could not be brought on board as carry-on in that respect. I doubt a flute would have been a problem, but guitars, violins and larger instruments were pretty big hassles for awhile.
Bear in mind that sometimes, orchestras will even book extra seats for instruments when special arrangements have been made with an airline. (I’ve seen a cello transported this way.) So “no instruments in coach” would have made travel very risky for more delicate instruments. Some insturments – stringed instruments in particular – do not fare well in the cargo hold with the changes in temperature. I’ve seen instruments damaged even though they were in heavy-duty touring cases.
For a short-but-scary while, it looked like there was going to be new legislation that would make it virtually impossible for musicians to safely transport their instruments and there was much lobbying by musicians unions.
For several months, some airlines were forcing musicians to check instruments and were forcing them to sign a waiver that said they would not hold the airline liable for damages. You had to sign the waiver or you couldn’t check your instrument, if you didn’t check your instrument, you couldn’t fly! Imagine being on the way to a performance in New York City and at the last minute being told you had to toss your Stradivarius into the cargo hold and waive all claims against the airline if it was smashed!
This didn’t work out well either. One court case ended in favour of a musician because his very expensive instrument was destroyed and the courts agreed that he signed the waiver under duress. “Risk your gazillion-dollar instrument or miss your $10,000 performance and end your career.” Eek!
Luckily, it seems that everything was ironed out. You won’t see any big tympany in coach, but your violin is okay.