For at least the second time in as many years, a cellist has been booted from an American Airlines flight.
According to Chicago’s NBC 5, music student Jingjing Hu and her cello were escorted off a flight from Miami to Chicago by law enforcement Thursday after the airline seemingly changed its mind at the last minute.
Hu, who was in Miami to attend a music festival, said there were no issues on the initial flight from Chicago to South Florida. She booked an extra seat for the instrument, cleared it with American and was given a strap to hold it in place. Federal regulations allow musicians to travel with large instruments in the cabin when purchasing a separate seat.
On the return flight, she was once again cleared by security and an airline representative and given a strap to secure the cello. However, it wasn’t until Hu settled in that she was informed that the aircraft was too small to accommodate the instrument.
American later apologized and blamed the incident on “miscommunication.” It also said Hu was rebooked on another flight on a larger aircraft the following day and was provided with hotel and meal accommodations.
“We apologize for the misunderstanding and customer relations will be reaching out to her,” the airline said in a statement.
Nonetheless, Hu and her husband, Jay Tang, are awaiting a sincere apology. “You had so many chances to tell me ‘you cannot board’ yesterday. You never told me until I sat down,” Hu told NBC 5.
“I don’t think we did anything wrong here and I think the way they handled it was humiliating,” added Tang.
My friend is stuck in Miami thanks to @AmericanAir and their horrific treatment to both her and her cello. This is awful – bring Jingjing home!! pic.twitter.com/8sCy3p3nYp
— Ashley Rewolinski (@ARviolin) August 3, 2018
Last year, another cellist en route to Chicago was removed from an American flight after his instrument was deemed a safety risk.
