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Comment by nikatwork | Hacker News Reader

Perhaps if airlines didn't routinely destroy instruments, this crap wouldn't be necessary.

Many musicians are travelling as part of their job, which is not usually high-paid. I don't mind giving up a bit of locker space so their livelihood is preserved. Lord knows it's hard enough for artists these days as it is.

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Is it really impossible to pack the instrument in a case that can withstand airline cargo handling? If I'm a musician who has to travel as part of my job, I'd think that such a case would be a "cost of doing business" and certainly tax-deductible.

Yes. Just do a cursory search on the internet, and you'll see many musicians shipping their instruments in very solid and well protected cases still getting their instruments destroyed.

I have heard, 2nd handed (friend of my dad, if I recall correctly), of a well protected double bass that was pierced through on purpose. I believe it was a routine contraband check.

Maybe those incident are not very frequents. But when you multiply that by entire orchestra travelling overseas…

Sounds like the moron that packed the double bass didn't put a security approved lock on it.

That's a pretty strong assumption. I've travelled with instruments, and complied with the rules of the airlines involved as well as the government agencies involved, and still managed to get shit badly broken. I don't know of the specific case in question, but I would wager that the "moron" who packed the double bass was not, in fact, a moron.

I wasn't told. It does sound like the hole in the case (and the bass) is evidence for the absence of a security lock. On the other hand, the guy was probably a professional musician, and therefore should have known… Who knows, maybe he doesn't travel much, and made a mistake?

This is not a valid response to the comment you are replying to. It's just an appeal to emotion. It doesn't negate the fact that this is the result of a special interests group nor does it negate the fact that the cost is not provided by the musicians that now take up more cabin space.

...a special interests group which got involved due to the airlines frequently destroying precious musical instruments through negligence.

If one is looking for the root cause of this cost, the arrow points directly at the incompetence of the airlines.

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