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United Airlines' customer-relations woes continue, this time with a musician attempting to board with her centuries-old violin and being assaulted by a UA employee and having her hand injured.
A professional musician says a United Airlines employee tried to wrestle away her violin after she insisted on carrying the valuable antique onto her flight.
Yennifer Correia wanted to keep the violin, which is hundreds of years old and worth tens of thousands of dollars, with her while flying Sunday from St. Louis to Houston for work, reported KPRC-TV.
Federal law requires airlines to allow musicians to bring their instruments aboard as carry-on luggage, under certain conditions, but Correia said a United supervisor insisted she pay $50 to check in her violin.
"She was rude from the beginning, saying these are the rules — all you can take with you are some personal items on the plane, and the instrument is too big and it's not going to fit," Correia said.
[...] "She proceeded to throw herself on top of my suitcase, so she could take the rest of the sticker from my suitcase," Correia said. "At this point, we're both struggling — pulling the suitcase — and I'm trying to get her not to take the sticker from me."
This comes immediately after an incident where a wheelchair-bound woman was dropped by a UA employee, causing permanent injuries.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by kc99 on Friday June 09 2017, @04:57PM (2 children)
From the Dept. of Transportation:
"Carriers must allow passengers to stow their small musical instruments in an approved stowage area in the cabin if at the time the passenger boards the aircraft such stowage space is available. Under the rule, musical instruments as carry-on items are treated no differently from other carry-on items and the stowage space should be made available for all carry-on items on a “first come, first served” basis. Carriers are not required to give musical instruments priority over other carry-on baggage, therefore passengers traveling with musical instruments may want to buy the pre-boarding option offered by many carriers to ensure that space will be available for them to safely stow their instruments in the cabin. (https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-issues-final-rule-regarding-air-travel-musical)
So...if the instrument is too big and there is no room (UA's assertion here), the airline does not have to permit it in the cabin. The UA employee was correct.
If Yennifer wanted to ensure she could bring it on board, she should have tried to buy it a seat:
"For some musical instruments that are too large to fit in the cabin stowage areas described in the carrier’s FAA-approved carry-on baggage program (e.g., an overhead bin or under a seat), it is sometimes possible to secure them to a seat as “seat baggage” or “cargo in passenger cabin.” Carriers are required to carry large musical instruments in the cabin if the passenger wishing to carry the instrument in the aircraft cabin has purchased an additional seat to accommodate the instrument and the instrument is contained in a case or cover to avoid injury to other passengers, the weight of the instrument does not exceed 165 pounds or applicable weight restrictions for the aircraft, and the instrument can be stowed in accordance with the requirements for carriage of carry-on baggage or cargo established by the FAA. Carriers are not required to provide for this process in their carry-on baggage programs; however the Department encourages carriers that do not currently allow such stowage to amend their programs to allow it, provided that all safety requirements are met. (https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-issues-final-rule-regarding-air-travel-musical)
Seems sensible to me.
Not necessarily sticking up of UA, we are also only hearing Yennifer's side of the story. The belligerence could easily have started on her end.
(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday June 10 2017, @02:54AM (1 child)
You are correct that we've only heard one side of the story, and it could be inaccurate or exaggerated. You're NOT correct that United has "asserted" there was no room left in any storage compartments -- the violinist merely states she was told there wasn't room, but it isn't clear -- given that the supervisor apparently cited other inaccurate policies implying the instrument wasn't allowed -- whether your possible explanation was actually what UA (or the supervisor at least) was claiming.
UA so far has only made a vague statement saying they're looking into it, so it's not clear if they are willing to back up whatever rationale the supervisor claimed.
Anyhow, regardless of who was "belligerent," let's be clear that there's basically NO situation where it would be reasonable for an airline employee to forcibly attempt to wrest someone's luggage from her. Well, maybe if a passenger declared the bag contained a weapon she intended to use... But short of that, I can't imagine how you'd defend the behavior claimed here, regardless of "who started it." At worst, the gate agent could simply deny boarding to someone attempting to board with prohibited material... Trying to forcibly take the bag is not acceptable.
There are three reasons I'm inclined to believe UA is more at fault here than the passenger: (1) they have so far failed to explain why this might have happened (e.g. by at least noting something like what you postulate may have at least led to the initial confrontation), (2) the violinist's lawyer has publicly requested people who may have videoed the incident to come forward -- it's doubtful he'd do so if he thought it was likely to exonerate the airline... And (3) I've never traveled with a large instrument myself, but I've accompanied people who have. Airlines very frequently are known to harass musicians or claim that policies regarding instruments don't apply or don't exist.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Monday June 12 2017, @08:42PM
I could understand harassing a bass player, but a violinist? It doesn't make sense...
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