FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A concert musician who was not allowed to board a flight with her violin says she hopes the incident will raise awareness of regulations that permit violins and other small instruments as carry-on luggage.
Rachel Barton Pine was told by a flight attendant and caption of an American Eagle flight that she could not bring her 18th century violin on board the plane Thursday from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They offered to valet-check the instrument, but Pine declined. The airline, which is based in Texas, later apologized.
“Violins are too delicate to be checked,” Pine said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s not a question of if it might break. It will break.”
She said the fact that her violin, a 1742 Guarneri, is a rare and valuable instrument, is irrelevant: “It could be a $50 student violin and the same problem exists.”
Pine said federal regulations and American Airline’s own policies specifically say “a musician may carry a small instrument such as a violin onto the plane” to be stowed overhead or under a seat.