By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video of Southwest Airlines preventing the musician Samantha Henson from boarding the plane with her guitar.
As of this writing, the original video has over 2.6 million views.
It’s unfortunately not a new phenomenon. Lest we forget one of the earliest viral YouTube videos “United Breaks Guitars” which made United Airlines stock take a hit at the time.
And of course MY first viral Ari’s Take article from 13 years ago: Carry Your Instrument On the Plane – It’s the Law!
So yeah, Southwest broke the law here. Ok, what happened?
Last week, Samantha Henson was flying from Sacramento to Portland with her guitar. Apparently, at the time of her boarding the gate agent told her she’d have to check her guitar – even though there were plenty of people behind her with their full size carry-on bags who were not asked to check their bags. Henson actually told the agents that she would board last and see if there was any room left. Otherwise, she offered to take the next flight.
The agent called the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office.
The look on these officers’ faces is hilarious. They know they shouldn’t be there.
This whole ordeal spun out of control because the gate agent was A) on a power trip, B) not trained well, and C) unaware of the federal law requiring airlines to allow musicians to carry their instruments on the plane.
That’s right, it is in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, signed into law by President Obama, that musicians can carry their instruments on the plane if there is room to store it at the time the passenger boards the plane.
That last part is the most important part.
You gotta board early.
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I used to fly Southwest (when they had two free checked bags by default—they no longer do), and when I did, I’d always spring for the EarlyBird Check-In for an additional fee as a sort of insurance so I could board early, when there would absolutely be room on the flight at the time of my boarding.
I no longer fly Southwest and have built up status with Delta (I fly a LOT), so I always board in the first few groups.
This all being said, some new aircraft overhead bins unfortunately don’t fit full-size guitars anymore (they have little divots between the bins—damn you!). But most flight attendants will let me store my guitar in the coat closet.
All this to say, many gate agents at many airlines are still uninformed and will tell you that you need to check your guitar at the gate.
This is why I always carry a printed copy of the law with me. I don’t like to escalate the situation and pull it out immediately. I usually try to have a conversation with them first. Or I’ll just take the pink gate-check tag they give me, walk down the jetway, pocket the tag, and waltz right onto the plane, flash a smile to the flight attendants, and store my guitar in the overhead bin.
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However, there are some puddle jumpers, and grumpy flight attendants, where putting my guitar in an overhead bin or the coat closet is not an option. So it’s always safest to invest in a great guitar case. Mono Cases or WolfPak are tried and true!
If you’re nerdy and want to read the actual 2012 law, you can do so here.
And you can also read the Transportation Department’s final ruling from 2015, with additional commentary and explanation, here.
Here are the key points from the law:
“§ 251.3 Small musical instruments as carry-on baggage. Each covered carrier shall permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other small musical instrument in the aircraft cabin, without charging the passenger a fee in addition to any standard fee that carrier may require for comparable carry-on baggage, if: (a) The instrument can be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment in the aircraft cabin or under a passenger seat, in accordance with the requirements for carriage of carry-on baggage or cargo established by the FAA; and (b) There is space for such stowage at the time the passenger boards the aircraft.”
And the final ruling from the Transportation Department:
“Carriers are not allowed to require a passenger to remove his or her musical instrument that is already safely stowed (e.g., in the overhead bin) to make room for carry-on baggage of other passengers who boarded the aircraft later than the passenger with the musical instrument. This is true even if the space taken by the musical instrument could accommodate one or more other carry-on items. Because the rule does not require that musical instruments be given priority over other carry-on baggage, we encourage passengers traveling with musical instruments to take steps to board before as many other passengers as possible to ensure that space will be available for them to safely stow their instruments in the cabin. This includes utilizing pre-boarding opportunities that some carriers offer.”
Have you had any issues boarding with your instrument? I want to hear about it! Just comment on my IG post, where there’s already a lot of discussion happening.
