Finnish airline breaks Olli Soikkeli's prized guitar

Gene Rawe

Thanks again for that case! I travel easier knowing I have a bomber case.

bohemewarbler

This summer I traveled internationally with my gig-bagged guitar. Twice I found myself having to board small regional jets that did not have enough space in the overhead compartments for my guitar, not even enough room for a typical carry-on. But I was prepared: Say whatever needs to be said to get your baby on board the plane with you--but always being pleasant and don't wait until the last minute to do your sweet-talking. In the first instance, the attendants strapped my guitar in a seatbelt with the single empty seat on that flight. In the other instance, I was allowed to place the guitar under my seat. That almost always works. Sometimes there's a joker who is on a power trip, probably like the person who wanted to insist that Olli check his guitar in the cargo hold, but the musician can persevere. Maybe Olli is just too nice of a guy to insist otherwise. However, one has to be prepared and be willing to say almost anything that is within reasonable bounds (and you many need to work in your creativity here) to make it work when caught in such a conflict.

You should also be familiar with the planes you'll be flying on as soon as you book your flight. See https://www.seatguru.com/
Some regional planes are just too small except for the smallest carry-on luggage and you can forget about bringing your guitar on board with you. If you find yourself in such a situation, it's possible that you have 24 hours to cancel, or you can pay a little extra for cancellation insurance.

I noticed that Finavia, the company that runs the Helsinki Airport, has apologized to Olli Soikkeli for the mishap.

There's a lot of good info about traveling with guitars on airplanes on this thread http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/14074/a-survey-survival-rate-of-guitars-in-gig-bags-placed-in-an-airplanes-cargo-hold/p1

MikkoKarhula

This incident is truly sad. But it has gained public discussion in Finland and we hope that it will improve things in good way.

Could this kind of case help. Made in Finland.:)





http://www.casemakers.fi/aani/