Otherwise your options are the overhead, the coat closet up front (which is usually full of coats in the winter), or gate checking. Make sure it’s in a hard case!

I would go with gig bag. The first time I flew, I took it in its hard case and had an argument with the ticket agent, and she thought she won by telling me to go through the gate and have it checked there. The captain was boarding at the same time, and heard the commotion and let me put it in the closet. It’s much more of a gamble to do that than the hard case. Lots of planes don’t have the closet any more.

What you want to do is find a compartment, put your horn in there, and CLOSE THE DOOR. That way, people are less apt to try to shove stuff in a compartment they think is full. Watch the compartment the horn is in like a hawk, and if someone is putting something in, just politely explain what you have in there. You should be good to go.

Some nice tips! I also play the Willson 2900, but I was wondering if I can take it on the plane in the hard case or do I have to use a soft bag? My euphonium got som bumps last time I was flying, so I am worried when travel with it.

This is actually more rare than it is the norm. I’ve flown many, many times, and I can’t recall anyone looking in my case. The closest I’ve had is some little jokes about my instrument when they see it in the x-ray: “ooh, looks like somebody’s ready to play some jazz up in here!”

The only time I’ve actually seen it was when I was flying to Chicago with two of the tubas in a brass band, and they stopped only one of them. The other tuba player and I weren’t stopped. Of course, we waited for them to stop swabbing his horn. They caused no trouble, and it only took them a few minutes. It was actually interesting to see what they do when they swab and search the instruments.

Just remember, if you do get stopped and asked to look in your bag, agree, but let them know what you have in there, and explain that it’s very fragile and if they are confused at all about inspecting it, that you can walk them through it. Always be very pleasant and polite. These people will be spending their day dealing with unruly passengers, especially with the recent media attention they get.

I’m sure, as you fly, you’ll notice this was a rare instance, and you will have very little trouble with security in the future.

No one, however, batted an eye at the WiplStix travel fiddle that I’ve taken along overseas. Wooden instruments seem not to annoy the security folks as much.

If you fly frequently, I used to have a Platinum status with American Airlines and was one of the first to board the plane. I was always able to get my guitar in a safe place on the plane.

Whenever I’ve had to gate check gear, I’ve never had a problem. As long as your gear is packed well, gate checking seems pretty safe to me.

It’s a bit difficult for me to say, as I have no experience with it. The measurements sound like they SHOULD fit in the overhead, but I don’t know the exact overhead compartment measurements–I can only tell you that it seems smaller than instruments that I have stuck in the overhead. If it doesn’t fit, very politely ask a stewardess if you can put it in the coat closet. Just remember, not all planes have one.

It’s a hard thing to tell with this, anyway, since even though there are rules that say you can do this and that, the ticket agents and TSA have final say on what goes in and what doesn’t. Just, like I mentioned in my article, to keep it professional, keep acting like you’re in the know, and things should work out fine.

Another suggestion, for all musicians, would be to sit a little distance from your gate while waiting for the plane to board; that way one of the flight employees doesn’t try to tell you to check the instrument before you can even try to board with it.

There’s a soft case for the equipment I want to carry in this case but I’m literally terrified that if I ever have to gate check it, I might as well call the equipment funeral home. At least if I have to gate check the hard case, the protection is there. Share your thoughts and/or email me if you can.

Last year, I flew with a brass band to Chicago for a competition. I was with the two tuba players, both of which had to buy a seat for their horns. Gate attendants gave them confused looks, and I made sure they knew not to mention their instruments until someone asks about them. On the way back from Chicago, the pilot let the three of us on first, because he just came from a United training meeting, where they required all employees to watch “United Breaks Guitars.” He said the airline has been dedicated to fixing that broken image since the video exploded on YouTube.

After re-reading this article, I still stand by everything I wrote. There’s only a few things I can add to this a few years later.

*TSA has been getting worse and more unreasonable over time, as we have seen. But last month I flew out of an airport that has announced publicly that they are going to do what they can to replace TSA with a private company, and TSA was extremely polite and pleasant when I was there. And this was at 5am. So maybe things are taking a turn for the better.

*As for trombones, I was on a tour in China a few months ago where I was playing bass bone. I was just barely able to fit the horn in my tenor trombone’s gig bag, and carried it on. It fit in all flights on this tour, except the flight home, on a 40-something seat plane, but they let me keep it between my legs. All-in-all, it was probably around 15 flights or so. So put your trombone in a gig bag and put it in the overhead.

*This one is quite important (maybe I should ask David to amend this to my original article): When you put your instrument in the overhead, CLOSE THE DOOR. The airline’s announcement over the intercom is that if a door is closed, the compartment’s full, so don’t bother opening it. It’s not guaranteed a passenger won’t open it and see some empty space between the instrument and the ceiling, and try to shove their already oversized suitcase on top of your ’57 Telecaster, but it definitely brings the chances of that happening down by quite a bit. I’m sure I don’t have to mention this, but just in case: don’t feel safe for your instrument until you’re in the air. Keep a sharp eye on it while passengers are still getting on board.