$10K guitar damaged on flight
After handing over instrument to special handlers, musician discovered large cracks from a fall
A Canadian guitarist says he could be out thousands of dollars after his livelihood was “destroyed” in an airline’s care.
Don Ross was flying back from a performance at a festival in Munich, Germany, when, he says, a United Airlines employee told him that he couldn’t put his guitar in the overhead bin. The bins were already at capacity when Ross boarded, so he was told it would have to go through special handing.
“I reluctantly handed it over,” the musician said. He landed in Chicago before taking an Air Canada flight to Toronto on Friday night.
It was at Pearson International Airport that he learned that his guitar had been damaged. Noticing a bulge in the case, Ross opened it to discover his custom-built guitar — which he estimates is worth $10,000 — was cracked in several places.
“The pattern of the cracks told me immediately that the guitar had been taken out of the case and dropped,” he said.
If the guitar had remained in the highquality case, it would have been protected from damage even if it was dropped from a height, he said.
The guitar strap had been put back in the case improperly, not the way he normally stores it.
He has since posted photos on his Facebook page, urging others to share his story to raise awareness. The post has been shared more than 6,000 times.
Ross says the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — the U.S. agency that supervises airport security aimed at countering terrorism — left a notice inside the case, which makes him wonder if its employees are responsible for the damage.
“They just threw in an inspection tag,” Ross said.
Bruce Anderson, of the TSA public affairs office, said a thorough investigation will be conducted once a claim is filed.
“Our officers are trained to treat passengers and their belongings with dignity and respect,” Anderson said.
United Airlines said it is also looking into the situation and has been in touch with Ross.
“I do want to clarify that we do welcome customers to carry on their instruments, provided there is space in the overhead bins to accommodate,” United Airlines spokesperson Jennifer Dohm told the Star.
“If customers want to guarantee they are able to carry their instrument on board, they are able to purchase an additional seat, and we do have many customers that choose to do that.”
Air Canada said it is trying to determine how the damage occurred and the company has been in contact with Ross to request a repair estimate.
“Our goal is to have all baggage arrive safely with the customer,” Peter Fitzpatrick, of Air Canada’s media relations office, told the Star.
“Situations such as this are exceedingly rare. Keep in mind we do handle nearly 35 million pieces of baggage each year, including thousands of instruments.”
Since 2010, the TSA has paid passengers $3 million for broken, lost or stolen luggage, according to a recent USA Today investigation.
Ross said the TSA has sent him paperwork to file a claim, but repair estimates will take time to gather.
It’s likely he will have the whole guitar rebuilt, because fixing it would cost almost as much.
Canadian musician Dave Carroll released a trio of songs in 2009about his own experience of having his guitar broken in United Airlines’ care.
The first song, titled “United Breaks Guitars,” became a YouTube hit.
United called him just a day after the video was released to offer the same $1,200 in flight vouchers that he was previously refused, plus an extra $1,200 in cash for his trouble.
Years later, Ross is echoing Carroll’s anger, saying that damage could be avoided if airlines always allowed instruments in overhead bins on planes.
“My piece of luggage is a $10,000 tool to make a living. It’s not a bag of clothes. That’s the big difference.”