Musicians who feel that their instruments have been mishandled by airlines like to unleash avalanches of outrage on social media, followed by petitions and calls for boycotts. British Airways recently tested tempers when gate agents refused to take three of the Kronos Quartet’s instruments on board. The quartet responded with a pledge to boycott the airline, and called on other musicians to follow suit.Of course, musicians should be able to travel with their instruments—just as athletes might take their own equipment, or doctors their medicine. But as someone yelled at me in my former capacity as an airline employee, I get uncomfortable when I see classical musicians, who often come from wealthy backgrounds, screaming at employees who earn minimum wage and already work under extraordinarily tight schedules and crushing emotional pressure. To get a different perspective on things, I spoke to an anonymous employee of one of Europe’s major carriers about musicians and their instruments.
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