Westjet Refuses Cello in Cabin

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

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Richard Palm
"The young musician booked a flight from Vancouver to New York via Toronto on American Airlines – however, the first leg of his journey was operated by WestJet. Although he had booked an extra seat for his cello for the entire journey the Canadian low cost carrier cited its rule of not allowing cellos on [board] because they don’t have ‘specialized tie downs’."

http://www.thestrad.com/cpt-latests...n-despite-musician-buying-an-additional-seat/
 
I like cello music as much as the next guy....but, it's their plane, their flight, they can and should make the rules that they feel will make for safe flight and cover their liability.
Although that should have been made clear at time of booking.
 
wrbix said:
I like cello music as much as the next guy....but, it's their plane, their flight, they can and should make the rules that they feel will make for safe flight and cover their liability.
Although that should have been made clear at time of booking.
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otoh - their rules should pass the giggle test and not look like the rules spewed forth from pointy-hair moron.
 
Assuming that the passenger explained the need for the second ticket, this should have been caught when the ticket was booked.

If he booked on-line, and made some name up for the "second passenger", I can see the airline point of view. Emergency egress, etc. Though maybe put the cello in a non-escape window seat?
 
I mean, it's not like it was something truly dangerous like bagpipes...
 
I wonder what criteria they used to Bass their decision?
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Assuming that the passenger explained the need for the second ticket, this should have been caught when the ticket was booked.

If he booked on-line, and made some name up for the "second passenger", I can see the airline point of view. Emergency egress, etc. Though maybe put the cello in a non-escape window seat?
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As the airline indicated, it needs to be secured somehow...they obviously don't have an approved means for securing a cello in a passenger seat. Other airlines apparently do.

"Should have" been caught at ticket purchase, but obviously there's not enough info there.
 
Really? I've been next to some fatties on a plane that well exceed the size of a cello. Were they afraid of the cello escaping and harassing people on the flight?

Maybe..flying around in the cabin during all phases of flight?

Seriously, what a load of crap. Some of these instruments cost thousands, tens of thousands and some MILLIONS of dollars. Do the airlines really expect someone to check a million dollar violin or cello into the baggage compartment with some guy's golf clubs flying around down there?

There's been a rash of these over the last couple years:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/28/us/violin-plane-viral-video/

http://wunc.org/post/why-did-us-airways-pilot-not-allow-violins-charlotte-plane
 
How do they tie down the emotional support animals in the pax compartment? Putting the cello in the baggage compartment would be pure lunacy.
 
Exactly Ron, what's to stop an "emotional support turkey" from crapping on the guy in the seat next to him or wandering off, or nipping someone?

Personally I'd rather sit next to the cello :)
 
"What a bassoon!"

That just trumpets everything I've ever heard.

Really takes some brass ones to chime in like that.

Somebody needs to snare that policy quickly!
 
rbridges said:
you beat me to it. They allow friggin' emotional support turkeys on board but not a cello. What kind of "specialized tie downs" hold a friggin' turkey?
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Tinfoil and a roasting pan.
 
wrbix said:
I like cello music as much as the next guy....but, it's their plane, their flight, they can and should make the rules that they feel will make for safe flight and cover their liability.
Although that should have been made clear at time of booking.
Click to expand...

The lack of knowing what the rules will be ahead of time is why I won't fly airlines with my bassoon anymore, in spite of the fact that it fits in a case that is not much bigger than a violin case.
 
Palmpilot said:
The lack of knowing what the rules will be ahead of time is why I won't fly airlines with my bassoon anymore, in spite of the fact that it fits in a case that is not much bigger than a violin case.
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Well, sometimes you gotta if your gig isn't local.

The guy in the article was traveling internationally and transcontinentally. It's a prohibitively long drive.

But then, one does define a musician as a guy who puts a $5000 instrument in a $500 car to go to a $50 gig. Probably not on this guy's level, though.

I went with 30 people on a jazz goodwill tour to SE Asia some 10 years ago. You bet we flew. Two weeks each way on a ship would have been cost and time prohibitive. The bass, guitar, drum kit, and bari sax were all issues, but we got it handled, even in-country.
 
NoHeat said:
Well, humans don't have specialized tie downs either. Just the same, they are secured pretty well by the lap belts provided by airlines.

If a cello's case has a handle, and a seat belt with extender can be threaded through it, that ought to be good enough.
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Amen!
 
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