2012 Airline Carry On Regulations for Guitars

jonpowl

I thought I would repost from a previous thread as there are somewhat new 2012 airline carry on regulations concerning guitars. Here are a couple of links about the new regulations courtesy of Guitar World: http://www.guitarworld.com/acoustic-nation-alert-you-can-carry-your-guitar-it-s-law
And the full text:
http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/reauthorization/media/PLAW-112publ95[1].pdf

Buco

Thank you so much!!!

Weird that this news didn't make a bigger splash and first time I'm hearing about it is in 2014.
Finally! This is such a relief.

Jazzaferri

A long time coming...now hopefully Canada will follow suit

Jon

It seems to me upon reading this that you could still rock up with your guitar to find that the overhead lockers are too short to fit it (which in my experience is often the case on domestic flights) or that the plane is fully booked, and that the staff would still be within their rights to tell you that you have to check it. If you play violin or sax, this law seems great, but with a larger/longer instrument like a guitar, it seems to me that there are enough caveats to make flying still a fairly unpredictable experience, unless you can find out ahead of time how long the overhead baggage compartments on your particular flight are going to be...or are willing to buy a seat.

Joli Gadjo

@Jazzaferri 's got a point. Since this is a US law, does this apply only to US domestic flights or to US carriers?

pickitjohn

@jonpowl Great idea to Start a New Thread…

2012 Airline Carry On Regulations for Guitars

Great News to take away Travel anxiety.

@Joli Gadjo…..
The reporter of the Guitar World article summarized the law with the following.

Wooooo-hoooo!!! And did you notice that the time to determine whether there’s sufficient space for your guitar is at the time you board the aircraft??!?!?!

So, no more deciding as the plane fills up that your guitar takes up too much room and they’ll have to gate check it fit more suitcases in.

Does everyone in the aviation industry know about this law? Well, probably not. Will you still have to argue with those who don’t, well, probably. Best practice? Carry the text of the law with you, inside your guitar case so you’ll have it if you need it.

And then? Celebrate, guitar players around the globe!!! When you fly in the U.S, anyway, you may rest assured: your rights are secure, as is your beloved guitar.

@scot made a great post in a related discussion
Good news for bringing guitars on airplanes!
http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/10228/

So - get there early, get on board early, and be nice to everyone. Bon voyage!

pick on & Carry On

pickitjohn :peace:

scot

This has been discussed here many times in the past. No matter what the intent or letter of this law is, one thing has not changed: there has to be room for the guitar to be stowed. On most Airbus and Boeing airplanes a guitar in a hard case or a gig bag will fit in the overhead bins. Some older planes still have a coat closet which they may or may not allow you to use. Your guitar will not fit in a regional jet overhead bin. The very best strategy is still to get on the plane as soon as possible while there is still space. Flight crews are not your enemy and they don't want to destroy your guitar. But they must comply with the rules - onboard safety violations can result in massive fines of $50k or more.

Buco

@scot I read in the other thread you recommended a gig bag over a hard case. Why is that? A lot of gig bags I saw seemed bulkier than a hard case. Or is that the point? To protect the instrument.

Last year when I went to DIJ I flew Southwest and paid a little extra for early boarding, went to the back of the plane which was empty at the time, everyone is going for the front seats, and the case fit in the overhead no problem.

Jazzaferri

Onboard safety regulations are the for a very good reason...in an emergency they save lives. Bad enough trying to survive the G forces of a critical incident without some 10 lb hard edge missile flying through the cabin at 80 mph. The guys up front realize they are in the crumple zone and it likely wont matter to them but....

I am pretty sure the law only applies to US domestic flights and US carriers departing from the US. For foreign climes. Likely they wouldn't change policies on the return flight but technically, foreign aviation law rules the airwaves while in that countries airspace....so if some country prohibited guitars in hard cases....then no go.

Note that the law would be pretty grey for alliance partners. Also be aware that most EU carriers have a smaller carryon baggage sizea and most US sized carry ons are not acceptable thus generating more revenue. Many overheads are sized differently (smaller) than the North Americans standard. If your flight overseas is US carrier make sure you are coming back or if continuing on either on the same carrier or find out ahead of time what the alliance carriers policies are. e.g.Star Alliance (United Air Canada Lufthansa et al)

Flight crews are like all professionals, they have good ones, tired ones, having a bad day ones,.....one thing is for certain, A warm caring smile and particularly on a day when there are lots of cancellations and delays therefore lots of CRABBY PASSENGERS, asking how they are doing and actually caring about their answer can work wonders. I have been on a flight where there was no room in the cabin but the poor harried FA responded well to being treated as a real human put my guitar up in the forward galley. She had to move it around a few times every time she did the food service but she had taken ownership of it and looked after it. Only a few minutes conversation at the end of a harried boarding service and I was from a late connection...I arrived late at the gate but my first comment was asking her how she was faring on the day and listeneing sympathetically, I then explained my predicament and asked if she could help.

jonpowl

I had a guy working a gate in London try to confiscate my tennis racquet, not withstanding the fact that I had flown safely from San Francisco without an overhead "smash" incident. I'm guessing he liked the model I was playing with, but his supervisor saved the day.

Russell Letson

No matter what policy gets promulgated on high, the flight crew (and before them the gate personnel) determine the fate of your guitar. I have encountered very little resistance from either--flight crew seem especially sympathetic to the little middle-aged guy wrestling with his big guitar case. But that happy situation could change the next time I board, which means I will never, ever travel with a gig bag instead of a case that has a decent chance of weathering the baggage system.

I always make travel plans with the guitar in mind: I check the aircraft to make sure it's not one of the regional jets with narrow/short overheads. (That almost guarantees gate-checking.) If I can't get the early-boarding option (which generally is part of the less-awful-coach-seat extra-charge deal), I book a seat as far back as possible. (Delta generally boards from the back.) Before boarding, I position myself near the gate, so that I'm among the first in my group to board. I sling my case on the side away from the gate agent. (This is a pretty weak way of de-emphasizing its alarming size. It works better if I'm flying with the GS-Mini rather than the Dunn or an archtop.)

And if it's a very full plane or the overheads are too small or an attendant rules against carrying it on, I can gate-check with much-reduced anxiety because I've chosen cases with a decent chance of surviving any but the most outrageous treatement. (And I've insured my traveling instruments for full replacement value, though in the case of the Dunn that would be cold comfort.) No. Gigbag. Ever.