Shocking tale from Carolin Widmann, who was refused permission to board with her violin case and had to carry the 1782 Guadagnini unprotected in her arms. She had been playing the Kurt Weill concerto in Espoo.
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That’s appalling. Sounds like Germany is now Das Land ohne Musik.
Any relation to Jörg?
Sister
Thanks.
His sister.
So inconsistent. I have twice seen Steven Isserlis board an LH flight with his cello (in a case) without issues.
He has shared countless stories of travel drama with his cello! Must have been BA
Because he’d booked an extra seat.
Because cellists book an extra seat.
Steven usually has issues with BA .
It is safer than to have the violin shoved in the public luggage is it not?
I would not complain.
It is not. And if no one complained, nothing in the world would ever improve
Whaaaaat???! Are you serious?Guadagni’s are valued over £2 million and the wood cannot handle pressure and temperature changes in the hold. As you surely know, suitcases get chucked around in the hold.
Temperature change?So why take it in an airplane in the first place?
This said it would have been worse had the violin been in the luggage department.
What about those travelling with flutes,oboes,clarinets…
I am convinced that having these treasures with them is safer.
Take your piano with you next time you fly; you might learn some of the problems musicians face. And get an education in logistics. How do you suggest musicians should travel? Or should we never travel?
Quite extraordinary Some years ago when I boarded a Lufthansa plane to fly to Germany with my Violin. I was in Economy and they put my Violin in First Class
This inconsistency is where the problem lies. In order to assure that this never happens again to you or to others, the first thing to do is get a clear statement from Lufthansa in Germany stating clearly and unambiguously what their policy is concerning carry a violin onboard in its standard case. If the policy is that it is allowed, as you believe and I do as well, then the next step is to demand action to be taken against the Lufthansa handling agent in Finland.
In these sorts of things Finns can often be worse than rule following obedient Germans and Finnish society is obsessed with following rules and regulations and Finns can often be over zealous in these things, showing no empathy or emotion when confronted with a problem like this. If Lufthansa confirms that you had the right to carry your violin in its case onboard, then the next step should be to demand a written apology from the Finnish handling agent and threaten to take legal action against them if no written apology is forthcoming.
I would also suggest that you make a copy of the official Lufthansa policy concerning carrying a violin case onboard and carry that with you whenever you fly with Lufthansa to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Musical Lawyer.
Sadly this ridiculous airline have responded to Classic FM that violin cases are too big for the case “ sizer” . The only solution is that all violinists and violists simply cannot risk flying with them when they are touring.
Trip-a-deal airline and passengers!!
Oh, the humanity!
What rationale could the airline have had to forbid cases?
It’s probably the size of the case going into the overhead compartment. A violin case is different dimensions than a standard carry-on.
Then they could have let her hold the violin in the case in her lap.
Okram.,Violins and violas fit in the overhead lockers no problem… they don’t however conform to the ground staffs case sizers where flexibility and humanity is in short supply.
None whatsoever except the exercise of petty power.
It is time the regulators step in.
As is well known, gangsters often carry submachine guns in their violin cases, and this could be triggering to other passengers.
9/11 was shocking. This is not. Don’t make words meaningless. Please
This is always the case. Every single time I’ve had problems like this (I also had to carry my violin without a case once on a Ryanair flight. The last time I flew with them carrying a violin) it was because of “computer-says-no” attitude of the ground staff and never the helpful airline crew. When travelling with an orchestra we often request to board the violins first as we can fit 4/5 in the place allocated for 3 of those horrible trolleys. Long-haul tends to be easier as there’s more space but short haul is always a worry. It’s obvious airlines can’t rely on common sense and education gif ground staff, so I agree it’s time for them make it clear. EasyJet did that a while ago with their musician friendly CEO
Because he booked two seats.
Oh wow she has Senator status she must be a really amazing person does she live in Berlin also wow she’s friends with Sol Gabetta wow much music so success
She’s probably successful with punctuation, too.
Cellist buying 2 seats have been unable to board with their cellos. Even when they have checked the airline policy. It’s rampant across airlines, across instruments.
Trinity violin travel set.
I hope she played and entertained the other passengers during the flight!