Bttc

Maybe with the big case, it looked big enough to be a bass? If I were taking a cello on a plane, I would want a rock-solid case.

bmw303

they should pay him IDB compensation.

Uzzar

A man with a one-foot tall piano player companion was denied boarding after he walked up to the GA and said "hey, have you seen my 12-inch pianist?"

MSPeconomist

Was the flight overbooked? If not, DOT rules don't apply. If it was an official IDB, I would hope that AA would have to pay the mandatory IDB amount time two, for the musician's seat and for the cello's purchased seat.

BTW, does anyone know how IDBs are handled when a "passenger of size" has purchased an extra seat?

ADDED: I would assume that a grand piano isn't allowed aboard either, so why didn't the captain just declare that the cello was being kicked off because it was a piano? This would make equal sense.

Let's hope that the FAs, pilot, and GA are disciplined for this incident. Just letting the musician and cello take the next flight is not an innocuous solution, even if the cello gets a $150 refund.

Dallas49er

All he had to say was, ""It's an Emotional Support Cello.", and with the proper documentation from his orchestra "condoctor", he would have to be left alone.

No more fiddling around.

arlflyer

Seriously, get that thing a cheap red vest with an official-looking fake ID card in it and there wouldn't have been a single question asked.

ShutteLag

ha ha...

FWAAA

At least this time it wasn't a disabled vet and their service dog . . .

If your mind is so feeble that you can't tell the difference between a cello and a string bass, then how can you be expected to handle the real heavy (mental)
lifting of an emergency situation?

The entire crew should be grounded until they can demonstrate that they aren't as stupid as they currently appear.

ryan182

That's a bit much don't you think? I'd wager decent money that if you asked a random sampling of people what the difference was between a cello and a string bass you'd get a whole bunch of: huh?Don't know or really care thanks.

According to this image, which since I had no idea the differences between the two I used google to find:




A cello looks just like a double-bass but smaller, and for not knowing this distinction you want to ground a crew?!

Also I fail to see how knowing how to handle an aircraft emergency is in anyway related to knowing the difference between different musical instruments, especially those that are not exactly commonplace.

ShutteLag

they all look the same to me... all different kinds of guitars, right?

FWAAA

What's the relevance? By the same measure, I'd bet that a sizable number of randomly selected individuals would be unable to tell a 737 from a 777 if their life depended on it. But those randomly selected moro . . . er . . .
fellow Americans are not tasked with flying AA jets, enforcing numerous safety rules or enforcing AA-specific policies about which musical items are permitted to occupy their own paid seat.

Your knowledge (or lack thereof) is even less relevant. The thread isn't about you, as you are not tasked with enforcing AA policies onboard (unless you are an AA pilot or flight attendant).

The most junior mainline AA captain was hired by AA more than 17 years ago, in August, 1999. By definition, they're well into middle age.

The judgment failures here were multiple: a flight attendant didn't know the difference between a bass and a cello. That's forgivable since FAs can be as young as 19 and don't require much formal education. Nevertheless, FAs will loudly proclaim that many of them have college degrees. They will tell you that they're not dummies.

The ignorant FA then consulted the flight deck and told the pilots that a passenger had a prohibited musical instrument, owing to the FA's ignorant but unwavering desire to enforce a rule that they did not fully understand. The FA should have thought about why AA would sell a seat to the cello (the boarding pass probably mentioned that it was a cello). The FA and the pilots should have wondered why the gate agents allowed the instrument (that had its own boarding pass) past them if it was not allowed. That's an example of critical thinking that the crew did not demonstrate.

The ignorant pilots then backed up their ignorant FA. They were in a hurry to throw someone off the plane instead of correctly enforcing AA policies. You may not have known the difference between the two instruments, but the pilots do have four-year college degrees and very likely, they have children in middle school and/or high school, and cellos are not uncommon instruments to anyone who has attended a school musical performance.

I'm certain that I'm guilty of a logical fallacy here, but if you can't exercise sound judgment before ejecting a rule-abiding, long-time, repeat customer and his lawful musical instrument companion, then I question those professionals' fitness to handle the truly difficult situations (like emergencies). What else in the AA manuals don't they fully comprehend?

The crew demonstrated the same idiocy as the AA crews who have ejected vets and their dogs and blind people and their dogs.

To be clear, the crew were not idiots because they did not know the difference between a bass and a cello. That simply makes them ignorant. They're idiots because they didn't ask someone who would know before acting. If I were in charge, they'd have a few unpaid days off to contemplate their foolishness.

You may not have known the difference, but trust me, plenty of people on a DCA-ORD flight would know the difference between a bass and a cello.

Doc Savage

A string bass is 71-75 inches tall.

eigenvector

The primary relevant difference between a double bass and a cello is the former obviously cannot fit in an airline seat while the latter can. It is MUCH larger and reason why it is prohibited onboard is quite obvious if you see one. A cello, however, fits perfectly fine - which should be obvious to a crew looking at a cello strapped into an airline seat.

ryan182

Well its relevant because knowing the difference between a cello and a bass is not relevant to the safety or operation of AA jets nor is it something I'd consider common knowledge.

You actually have a reasonable argument regarding poor judgement exhibited by the crew in this case but then destroy your credibility and argument by implying all those that don't know what a string bass looks like are somehow uneducated morons. I have advanced degrees in engineering and business and didn't know the difference, because such knowledge is as relevant to my field as it is to flying or performing the evacuation of an airplane. I also find it humorous that apparently having a 4 year degree means that someone should know what a cello or string bass are...perhaps if that degree was in music but if you think the majority of college graduates know or care the difference you're quite wrong.

No doubt.

Curious why you would think that people flying DCA-ORD would somehow be experts on string instruments but (shrug). As mentioned, theres a reasonable argument that good judgment was not executed by the crew in this case, but implying that people who do not know, or frankly give a flying F, what a string bass looks like are somehow uneducated morons is just silly.

Sabai

AA really stepped on their organ.