On April 5, two elderly passengers were removed from an American Airlines flight because the gate agent wouldn’t let them fly with their cello – even though they’d purchased a seat for the cello from the airline and flown with it on the first segment of their trip.
The passengers had flown from Palm Springs to Dallas – Fort Worth. They boarded their second flight. And a gate agent came on board and declared that they’d be unable to fly unless they either:
- waited for a later flight operated by an Airbus, instead of the Boeing 737, or
- checked the cello as baggage because instruments are not allowed in seats on 737s
In Dallas an agent stopped the passenger at the boarding door, but then let them proceed onto the aircraft. Then the agent, in the passenger’s words, “came running to get me off the plane after giving me permission.” Another agent “said no again [and] suggested only cargo.”
Not wanting to wait over six hours for the next flight – American is currently serving Washington Dulles airport from Dallas only twice daily – the passengers agreed to check the cello.
An American Airlines spokesperson shares,
Customers with large carry-on musical instruments that do not meet carry-on requirements may choose to purchase an additional seat for the instrument. The requirements for these instruments are available on aa.com. Our team is reviewing this specific issue and will reach out to the customer directly.
American’s website says,
If you choose to buy an additional seat for your instrument, please note that seat bags must not weigh more than 165 lbs / 75 kg and must meet seat size restrictions based on airplane type.
While the airline doesn’t offer further details on seat size restrictions by aircraft type, I do think anyone buying travel for an instrument should at least inquire about potential problems on smaller regional jets.
Cello On Board American Airlines Airbus A321
It’s the airline’s responsibility to ask questions about instruments they’re selling tickets for, if there are potential issues. Instead, a gate agent took it upon themselves to interpret rules on the spot – after ticket purchase, after boarding pass issuance, and after passengers had flown their first flight. And then American Airlines didn’t even refund the cello’s ticket after it was denied boarding.
Department of Transportation rules explicitly require airlines to accommodate musical instruments on board and making up rules, or failing to consistently enforce instrument rules, would appear then not just to be poor customer service but a violation of federal rules.
Ultimately after I brought this issue to the airline’s attention they provided passengers with a full refund for their tickets plus a $100 trip credit per person.
What’s new with this event? AA is the pits. I worked in RES for a major airline. A member of a city orchestra was traveling with her cello on my airline. She wanted to book a seat for her cello as it was very expensive. That’s normal. “Does your cello have a frequent flyer number?”. “No.” Well, “Cello Smith” now has a FF number and the cello earns miles! Hey AA, it’s called “customer service”. Look it up and try to apply that principle!
Cellos are not permitted to have frequent flyer accounts so those miles would be invalidated in the airline’s audit of accounts. This happened to a cellist flying Delta many years ago, and Gary Leff appeared on The Colbert Report arguing in Delta’s favor.
It’s obvious by now that AA hires a number of folks who can only be referred to as “doofuses”.
Again, and this always needs to be prefaced by the standard qualifier that some does not mean ALL….but……”Some” of American’s FA’s and gate agents are NOT not only stupid but they’re really power mad: The idiots are running the asylum.
Apparently, having a seat for the cello wasn’t vital to the passengers — cause they ultimately checked it. They drew the line when it would cost them an extra 6 hrs. of their time.
A B737 is a small regional jet? Cool
AA can’t help themselves a shell of a once proud airline. Some of these agents need to get a life.
Wow such mean comments. Judge an airline by one agent? How about me who in one day saved several families vacations, found creative routing for an international pax who was inconvenienced by BA Cancellation and had to be at final destination by a certain time, went above and beyond to Jenga seats so people could sit together and not pay the $89 seat fees.
Reading this I’m not bothering tomorrow courtesy of this thread.
C’mon, AA – there’s •always• room for cello.
@David Steele – contrast is with a small regional jet
Perhaps having the cello in an isle seat was the problem?
In reply to James, my view is that the word “dufus” is way underused these days. Thank you for bringing it back!
165 pounds? So that fat customer that weighs 300 pounds and wants the airlines to give out two seats needs to be checked in as a bag.
PAX should have held up DO and requested OP to show written rules.
@james do you call your mom that ? If you can only be rude then go to a Trump/ GOP fundraiser.
United is obviously much more “Cello Friendly”…although they’ve of course been accused previously of hating guitars: flew United Polaris from Incheon to San Francisco last month and in the seat across the aisle was a strapped in cello. The other passengers were intrigued and asked the gentleman, who was in a symphony, if he ate the cello’s meal: he said “no, I just want his dessert”.
Hello ,
The same thing of Getting to the gate 5 mins late so 10 mins before happened to me. I was a bit confused but I accepted what the agent told me . My first class seat on Delta was given away that I paid full price for . Luckily a seat in coach is as available. These police’s exist for a reason . I understand now . I was given a fare difference back . Late is late man . Stop blaming airlines for your mistake .
It’s ALL the fault of the gate agent in Palm “Sprints”; they’re the WORST
“Ultimately after I brought this issue to the airline’s attention they provided passengers with a full refund for their tickets plus a $100 trip credit per person.”
Did the Cello get any refund?
Also I noted this: “Palm Sprints to Dallas”
Palm Spirits seems to me to be a rather intoxicatingly interesting destination. I’ll report back…
I am from Canada.
Where is Palm Sprints?
Clearly there were strings attached?
That cello was smaller than half the people on our flight from Atlanta to Dallas yesterday. Just saying.
This is a recurring problem with numerous airlines, regardless of what their written policies say. Buying a seat for the cello (at full fare) is a standard practice for touring string quartets. These instruments should have frequent flyer miles since they are making airlines a lot of money. It is unacceptable for some gate agent to change the rules at the last minute; this has forced cancellations of public concerts on more than one occasion and thrown multi-city tours into jeapordy . No sensible person would subject a fragile, 200-year-old instrument to baggage handling. Instruments like that are irreplacable and are often loaned to the artist by rich collectors. The terms of loan and their insurance policies prohibit their being checked as baggage or even transported in a car trunk. Airlines routinely limit their liability for “baggage” to about $1700; some of these antique instruments are priceless and even modern cellos of professional grade cost $50,000 and up. Conservatory graduates embarking on professional careers generally take out a “mortgage” to fund purchase of a suitable instrument. After years of study and high monthly loan payments, their ability to earn a living should not be imperiled by some poorly-trained gate worker.
If the cello fits, you must acquit.
This is concerning to me – as I will be flying with a cello on AA in a couple of months.
Even buying an extra seat has been an exercise in frustration. it took three calls to get a seat an international flight for the cello. The complicating factor was using miles. The cello will be on a 777 in MCE, so I am hoping we forgo the problems described here.
AA will also not allow you to buy a seat for the cello that combines AA with let’s say BA, as each airline has their own set of rules.
Checking a cello, even with a specifically designed protective case, is never a good idea. It will get damaged.
Air Canada looks to have the most “cello friendly” rules, but the only service to my city from them is a smaller plane – and I’m not risking it.
Americans hate the airlines service we get. Only possible because scumbag politicians are beholden to them for re-election money. For decades now, our govts have been for the special interests and made by the special interests.
Please train ALL airline employees to stop objecting to musical instruments. We his needs to stop being g a crapshoot.
I was returning from a cross-country tour via UnAmerican Airlines and had checked my drums into the baggage compartment in Baltimore. When we arrived at LAX I waited for my drums at the base of the ramp leading to the baggage carousel. I looked up and saw my bass drum case rolling down the ramp toward the floor. Luckily, I caught it before it the drum was smashed to pieces. I have more horror stories of airline travel.
Can American airlines make flying even less friendly. We will see. I hope that the cello didn’t get damaged by the usual rough handling by baggage crews at the airports.
Some of these comments are hysterical. Y’all made my day!
Seat restrictions based on size??
Are overly large people also restricted based on aircraft? or is it assumed by the airline that it is OK for a very large person to overflow into neighboring seats?
My sister and brother in law were kicked out of flagship first class from jfk to lax and reseated in main cabin for a cello about 15 yrs ago on American. They were flying non rev travel. The flight attendants made them a big picnic of food from first class.
@Gateagent hard to tell if this is a parody or not, the difference between someone making fun of how cunty and vindictive the average airline employee is and a real airline employee just being honest requires a microscope to detect.
@Frank S. these are the people who want more money and more power to get people dragged off planes and arrested for looking at them sideways. The solution is the same :everyone who signed on after 9/11 to work for an airline because they were enticed by the promise of “we’re all going to pretend you have fuck-all to do with safety and give you arbitrary power to fuck with people” is fired, all unions for anything but pilots are decertified, and if you don’t want to pour the drinks and shut up you can find another job because that’s what this is.
My father was a concertizing cellist and traveled worldwide performing concerts with orchestras, chamber music, and pianists in recitals. This was partially in the days of propeller planes and later in the jet age. He had personal letters from the Presidents of the airlines he flew that instructed the flight crews to board his cello in a seat. Period. No charges, no limitations and certainly not in the baggage area. I read those letters and he never had any problems with the airline people.
My favorite story came later when the rules were tightened. He began having to buy a ticket as is common today and he willingly obliged. At the beginning of one trip, the gate agent said that he was not able to board the cello. My father, kept cool and asked why? The agent, with a straight face, asked him the cello’s name because he had to add that to the cello’s ticket. My father replied that the cello didn’t have a name. Finally, the agent asked my father to name the cello so they could move on to the next in line. My father thought about it for a moment and named the cello Bill. Bill Cello sounded good, and, that avoided the problem in the future. Those were the good old days when customers were treated like they were important, and staff were respected as well.
Bulkhead, front row, window seat!
I am a retired f/a and as long as a pax bought a ticket they could bring on the cello. It had to be strapped into a window seat and generally required seat belt extentions and many times it was at a bulk head seat. None of this makes any sense, unless the fact the airlines have shrunk the leg room so much they will not fit on a regional jet. When I flew, we had 727s and 737s and they would even fit mid cabin………
On AA, cellos can ONLY be placed at a non exit row, traditional bulkhead(meaning full wall from floor to ceiling) at a window seat. Placed on the floor with the seatbelt(extension) going around it. On the 737 the only place it could be is at the bulkhead in First Class. The cabin divider is a curtain and is longer a full wall. Some of the aircraft for AA do not have that traditional bulkhead anywhere on the plane. Even the picture you have in this article is a no-no
The relevancy ,please,of the customers’ ages is……….?
Palm Sprints to Dallas?
@tomri – I’m all for accommodating passengers of all sizes, and I understand the complicated dilemma that issue has caused, but thank you for a good laugh 🙂 You’re not wrong!
For longer trips, I often bring a really high end pair of headphones that I keep, with the amplifier, in a large Pelican case. Usually it’s not an issue, but one gate agent told me no way, I had to check it. I asked how much their insurance would cover in case of damage – it wasn’t enough. Then another agent pulled me aside and said to just bring it on and ignore her Worked that time! I’m sure status and a ticket in first didn’t hurt. But that’s why I use the Pelican, in any less sturdy case, I’d cancel my flight before letting those headphones get checked.
“Palm Sprints.” Those are warm-ups to the longer flights, and a town East of Los Angeles, in the desert, home to famous people and other rodents.
American Airlines is trash, especially in Dallas. Used to be a frequent flyer and had the experience of nightmares with AA in Dallas. I haven’t flown with them since. People need to stop flying with them.
I remember in the 1960s there was a TV ad (no idea now what airline) that showed a woman training to be a FA and learning about the cello rule. (I seem to recall it saying that it traveled at half fare.) She was laughing about welcoming “Mr. Cello” and wishing it had a good flight. In the next scene she’s working when someone brings one on board and she just grins. If it was that clear in an old commercial why couldn’t the agent get this straight? Sounds like somebody missed their lessons.
Yes, Palm Sprints. Read the article and you will see this: “The passengers had flown from Palm Sprints to Dallas – Fort Worth.”
I little off topic but I’m curious if anyone insight/suggestions on a similar extra seat problem we had with SW. My husband has serious back problems. I booked tickets from RSW to PIT (for his second major surgery) on the SW website and called SW to purchase an extra seat for my husband for medical necessity. No problems RSW to PIT, but our encounters on our return flights showed an abysmal lack of knowledge, consistency and professionalism by SW personnel. At the PIT check-in desk, we were denied the extra seat despite my husband being 10-days post-op. This by 2 “senior” SW agents who insisted only people of size can purchase an extra seat. Apparently, no supervisor was present, so they called “Corporate” for clarification. The next comment from the desk agent was “something to the effect of…….. you know for medical there has to be something visible like a cast on his leg. At this point, my husband, who had been denied a wheelchair until we cleared the desk, offered to show them his 7” incision. This offer must have prompted “corporate,” (still on an open phone line) to OK us to proceed.
Our itinerary called for a stop in Baltimore but no plane change. Unfortunately, a plane swap came into play so we deplaned in Baltimore (no wheelchair) and I was directed to the closest gate agent. A “lovely” man, who refused to look up the gate for our new flight because we had no boarding passes from Baltimore to RSW. Seriously??? My husband limped away and found the proper gate. WHEW! Our names, with the extra seat, were on the manifest but we were not allowed to board because the agent at this desk said we had an illegal extra seat. He screamed and yelled at me to be quiet and listen as I tried to explain that we had been through the same scenario at PIT just hours before. He was adamant that it was his responsibility to “fix” the ticket for the extra seat before we could proceed. After a phone conversation, he again yelled that we couldn’t pay for an extra seat for medical necessity so he would credit “our” bank account and SW would provide the extra seat for free. Our fully boarded flight sat at the gate for over 20 minutes while we waited.
Of course, we never received credit for the $400+ extra seat. But, what this agent succeeded in doing was to erase all evidence of the extra seat from my husband’s SW account.
I’ve filed a complaint with SW and was originally told they would reply in 10 days……..now they need 30 days more. Fortunately, I have the paper trail for all 3 of our tickets. Thoughts?
Great article, I just flew two weeks back with a cello in my row. First time for me while flying. Jet Blue seemed more than accommodating to the musician. He did need a seatbelt extension, however.
I think that we should all be cello-brating these folks. After having their passenger rights viola-ted, they didn’t try to de-bass the agent nor did they resort to violins. They showed a lot of pluck, and I bow to them.
Palm Sprints, Home of the Palm Tree Races.
Message of the story: never trust a flight attendant which is like a policeman.
Lol