Updated 11/19 at 3 pm
A bassist who says that his instrument was barred from a US Airways flight at Los Angeles International Airport has taken his grievances to YouTube.
Ranaan Meyer, who plays double bass in the ensemble Time for Three, posted a series of videos on Tuesday showing him at the US Airways ticketing counter, after, he claims, an airline worker prevented him from checking his instrument.
"I've hit a brick wall," Meyer narrates as the airline employee can be seen walking away. "She's the shift manager. She's the highest person working here this morning." He adds: "So that's it, I can't fly home today."
The video was posted at 5 am, hours after Time for Three appeared on the show "Dancing with the Stars." Meyer was en route to his home in Philadelphia. The other trio members had flown separately.
In a second video, Meyer displays his bass, which is in a carbon-fiber flight case, and he states, falls within Federal guidelines for cargo stowage.
Meyer and his bass were eventually booked on a Delta flight, which, unlike the US Airways route, required a layover in Atlanta. "They're the nice ones," Meyer said of the airline in a third video.
This is not the first skirmish involving Time for Three and US Airways. In May, violinists Nicolas Kendall and Zachary De Pue staged an impromptu protest performance on the tarmac during a connection in Charlotte, NC, after they said they were prevented from boarding a flight because of their instruments. A YouTube video of that incident went viral, sparking discussion about the challenges musicians face when traveling by plane.
In an interview with WQXR, Meyer said that a US Airways spokesman contacted him on Wednesday and explained the airline's policies. "The bottom line is that US Airways accepts cellos and basses on aircrafts but does not accept them underneath as checked baggage," said Meyer. "Not only does that differ from all other airlines but, in my estimation, is an antiquated approach."
"Bassists travel with our instruments in the trunk because it is so cumbersome," Meyer added, noting that the dimensions and weight of his instrument fit within 2012 Federal regulations that were passed but never implemented. The bill states in particular that airlines must allow for a large instrument to be stowed if it does not exceed 165 pounds in weight or 150 inches in length "or the applicable size restrictions for the aircraft."
Brandi Numedahl, Time for Three's business manager, said in an e-mail that Meyer's bass is sometimes charged double or triple the normal baggage fee, but it has never been refused on a plane. "Generally, we see a certain flight as being a problem in advance and ship the bass if necessary," she wrote in an e-mail. "But in this case (a cross-country flight on a big plane), denying a bass is almost unheard of."
US Airways's website indicates that overweight cargo items are subject to extra fees, but does not specify restrictions on size. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If one thing is for certain, Time for Three have become visible symbols of musicians flying with instruments. On Saturday, Kendall and De Pue posted a video of a performance they gave aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.
