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Grishnakh writes:

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.

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