The German violinist Carolin Widmann played a concerto in Finland in November and set off for a quick trip home before a performance in Vienna. But at the airport in Helsinki, she was faced with a conundrum: what to do with her centuries-old violin.<\/p>\n
As she tried to board a Lufthansa flight, an airline employee said that her violin case was too long to fit in the cabin. Despite her protests, the only option for transporting the multimillion-dollar instrument was to remove it, buy a second seat on the flight to Frankfurt and hold it on a connecting flight to Leipzig, her hometown.<\/p>\n
Ms. Widmann had to protect the instrument, a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin made in Turin, Italy, in 1782, from the risk of spills, jostling passengers, and turbulence in multiple planes, as well as through security checks and bus transfers in the ice and snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took off my sweater and wrapped the sweater around my violin,\u201d Ms. Widmann, 49, said in an interview. \u201cCompletely unprotected, this incredibly valuable instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Widmann wrapped her violin in her sweater and held it in her lap for the duration of her Lufthansa flight.Credit…Carolin Widmann<\/p>\n
She could not leave it unattended to use the restroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is more than an instrument,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is cultural heritage. It is like having a Van Gogh painting, bare in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Widmann, who travels for up to 60 concerts a year, filed a complaint with the Lufthansa station manager at Helsinki Airport<\/a> in Finland and through the Lufthansa airline group\u2019s website, she said. She published an open letter to its chief executive, Carsten Spohr, spoke with management, and kept track of her efforts on social media<\/a>, where thousands of musicians replied with support or shared similar stories.<\/p>\n By February, as Ms. Widmann described it, her ordeal had \u201cstruck a chord.\u201d<\/p>\n As of March 1, Lufthansa Group, citing \u201ccustomer feedback,\u201d said it would be applying \u201ca new, more generous\u201d carry-on policy for small instruments, such as violins, trumpets or ukuleles.<\/p>\n The change means that the entire dimensions of the hand luggage \u2014 its height, width and depth \u2014 cannot exceed 125 centimeters when added together. \u201cThis means that instruments longer than the regular maximum length of 55 centimeters can also be taken on board,\u201d Lufthansa said in an email.<\/p>\n For Ms. Widmann\u2019s violin case, the 80-centimeter length alone was used to determine its viability in the cabin.<\/p>\n Lufthansa\u2019s policy change is part of efforts by the airline industry<\/a> to address the challenges musicians face when flying. In a meeting of European Parliament members, musicians and aviation executives in Brussels on Feb. 23, Nicola Zingaretti, the Italian head of the Democratic Party, said Ms. Widmann\u2019s experience showed how \u201ca single incident can become a catalyst for change.\u201d<\/p>\n Musical instruments are \u201cnot normal luggage,\u201d he told the meeting.<\/p>\n But unifying regulations would be a complex task, considering the multiple airports, ground staff and airlines across the bloc. \u201cThe problem is not just around the policies,\u201d David Webster, of the British Musicians Union, said at the event. \u201cIt is around the understanding of the policies and how we educate gate staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Valentina Scheldhofen Ciardelli, a double bass musician and composer who initiated the meeting with Parliament members, presented a petition signed by more than 8,200 independent and orchestral musicians from around the world that seeks clear rules about the transport of instruments and less discretionary applications of them.<\/p>\n She said that she protested last month when an official at London Stansted Airport tried to open the case holding her bows, which are delicate and can be altered by the fabric of gloves or the natural oil of a person\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n \u201dIf you open an instrument case you compromise the function of the instrument itself,\u201d Ms. Scheldhofen Ciardelli said in an interview. \u201cIt could move or fall down. It is really like managing a piece of art.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Scheldhofen Ciardelli and the union collaborated on new regulations that were adopted at Heathrow Airport in London in August<\/a>, allowing musicians to handle their instrument cases during inspections.<\/p>\n \u201cThis demonstrates that meaningful change is possible without compromising security standards,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Carolin Widmann holding her violin after being denied the option of storing it inside the overhead compartment in a Lufthansa flight.Credit…Carolin Widmann<\/p>\n Ms. Widmann said that it was a lack of uniform regulations that made her experience so unusual in Finland, where ground and airline staff approached with a measuring tape. She relented by removing the violin and checking the case with only her bows, still worth tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to break the rules,\u201d she said in the interview. \u201cBut it is not enough to say that it won\u2019t happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n Sampo Paukkeri, the managing director of Airpro, which handles aviation services in Helsinki, said passengers must choose from existing policy options when issues arise with their luggage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that transporting valuable instruments on an aircraft can be a stressful situation for a passenger, and we do our best to ensure everything goes well.,\u201d he said in an email, when asked about Ms. Widmann\u2019s incident. \u201cHowever, we cannot deviate from the airline\u2019s instructions on a case-by-case basis.\u201d<\/p>\n As The Strad, a music publication,<\/a> and news organizations, including in Finland<\/a> and Italy<\/a>, spread Ms. Widmann\u2019s story, it resonated with the international community of musicians who carry, wheel, and stow instruments on airplanes, buses and trains.<\/p>\n Musicians share tips online<\/a> about how to travel, particularly on airplanes with their instruments, from the unwieldy, like a saxophone or horn, to the oversized, like a cello. Many instruments barely fit as carry-on items, or do not fit at all. They are invariably fragile.<\/p>\n In the United States, musicians are advised to check with airlines about large items, a spokesman of the Transportation Security Administration said. Brass instruments must be in checked bags, while violins, drum sticks and guitars can be carry-ons after hand inspection, the T.S.A. says.<\/a><\/p>\n