On Monday two violinists from string trio Time for Three were stranded on the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas International Airport after the captain and crew of US Airways flight 4799 told the musicians they could not take their instruments on board. Zach de Pue and Nick Kendall were on their way to meet up with band mate, bassist Ranaan Meyer in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to play for the Artosphere Arts and Nature Festival.
The crew told the musicians that the FAA would fine the airline if they were found not to have complied with FAA regulations, which, according to the captain, said Kendall, prohibited musical instruments to be carried on the plane.
As the flight was preparing for take-off without them, the band made this video:
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The musicians eventually boarded another flight later the same day.
US Airways responded to the ensuing barrage of complaints on their Facebook page:
Violins fit in the overhead compartments on most of our aircraft and we apologize the musicians were inconvenienced. They were moved to a later available flight to their destination yesterday.
In fact denying boarding with their instruments was a clear breach of FAA policy. The FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act of 2012, in Section 713, “requires an air carrier to permit an air passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument on a passenger aircraft without charge if it can be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment in the aircraft or under a passenger seat.”
Download the full policy here – you might want to print a copy and keep with your instrument – just in case!
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