ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) (07/15/85)
I would think twice before ever checking an instrument through baggage on an airline. On the only two occasions I ever did this, the cases received significant damage (the instruments came through o.k.). These were a fiddle and a banjo. The fiddle had to be checked because the airplane was a funky little island-hopper. You don't have to be a statistician to infer what the probability of damage is, at least by my experience. The two incidents happened at different airlines at different parts of the country. I have found that even the banjo will fit in the overhead compartment inside the passenger compartment of most airlines. This is a small size case--i.e., no resonator. I don't believe it's possible to build a damage-proof container. I heard a story (maybe apocryphal) about a man who had a very expensive custom-made rifle. In anticipation of rough handling, he had a heavy duty stainless steel case built for it. On the very first trip, the baggage handlers CRUSHED one end of it. He was never able to figure out how they did it, except by maybe using a forklift on it. The more cynical among us speculate that baggage handlers look for a challenge, but at any rate, they don't seem to be able to resist an easy kill, and an expensive musical instrument is an simple target to recognize. If I were flying a lot and had to take an instrument and put it through baggage, I would get the cheapest instrument I could find that was still playable, and just figure on it having a very short life span. If I were a professional who had to have the best, I would pay the extra half-fare to put it in a seat next to me on the plane, and just consider the cost as part of the business expenses.
bill@persci.UUCP (07/16/85)
In article <1252@hound.UUCP> ganns@hound.UUCP (R.GANNS) writes: >[...] >The more cynical among us speculate that baggage handlers look for a >challenge, but at any rate, they don't seem to be able to resist an >easy kill, and an expensive musical instrument is an simple target to >recognize. >[...] On my last trip (on American Airlines, remember that!) I was afforded an excellent view of how (American Airlines) baggage handlers treat luggage being unloaded from the plane, while the plane I was on made a stop. It was incredible! They rolled a conveyor up to the plane and somebody inside the compartment started placing items on the conveyor. Several 'trucks' gathered at the end of the conveyor, and two handlers 'sorted' the stuff as it came off. The sorting consisted of checking the tag, and throwing (where possible, otherwise they dragged and kicked) the luggage into one of several piles, one by each truck. From there they were slammed into the racks on the truck and carted to their destinations. Really abusive. I am no longer surprised by the amount of damage that luggage sustains. *Don't* subject a poor defenceless musical instrument to this kind of treatment. -- Bill Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill
faunt@hplabs.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (07/17/85)
This is even more drift. I saw the baggage handlers pull a couple of pieces of luggage while loading the aircraft, put the pieces on the ground, and when the cart was empty, jump in the tractor and drive over the luggage. This got the luggage jammed under the tractor, and more damage was done getting it unwedged. BEWARE!!!! -- ....!hplabs!faunt faunt%hplabs@csnet-relay.ARPA HP is not responsible for anything I say here. In fact, what I say here may have been generated by a noisy telephone line.
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (07/20/85)
You could always do what Tom Paxton did -- he wrote a song, which he sings everywhere, about an airline that munged his guitar...
bill@persci.UUCP (07/22/85)
In article <1016@ulysses.UUCP> smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) writes: >You could always do what Tom Paxton did -- he wrote a song, which he sings >everywhere, about an airline that munged his guitar... Doesn't look like it's working.. which airline was it, anyway?
albert@harvard.ARPA (David Albert) (07/24/85)
> >You could always do what Tom Paxton did -- he wrote a song, which he sings > >everywhere, about an airline that munged his guitar... > > Doesn't look like it's working.. which airline was it, anyway? The chorus begins: "Thank you, Republic Airlines, for breaking the neck on my guitar..." -- David Albert ihnp4!seismo!harvard!albert (albert@harvard.ARPA)
cjn@calmasd.UUCP (Cheryl Nemeth) (07/25/85)
Whenever I fly with my pipes (an old set of Hendersons) I carry them on the plane. There's no way I'm going to let the baggage handlers get their hands on any of my instruments. When the band I'm in flew to Hawaii, we were able to carry all of our pipes on board, but the drummers had to check theirs. Needless to say, when the drums came out on the Hawaii end of the flight, we had to stand around the claim area and literally catch the drums as they came flying out of the chute. Trying to catch a flying bass drum is not very much fun.