Flying with a Tuba
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:21 am
A number of months ago I asked the forum about the best tuba flight case available, and was in essence told “there isn’t a flight case made that can’t be damaged.” I also asked about flying with a tuba in general and was told “don’t do it, just drive or borrow a horn at your destination.”
I respect those answers, and can understand where the posters were coming from. Unfortunately there are times when you don’t have an extra 2-3 days to drive each way and don’t know a soul at the destination. For those folks, I wanted to share a little about my son’s and my experience flying with a tuba.
Just a little background. The trip was Iowa -> New York City -> Miami (tuba was driven to Miami) -> NYC (also driven back) -> Iowa. The tuba is an Ursus that was being transported in the gig bag that came with it. We decided to fly American Airlines and purchased a ticket for the horn.
Regarding TSA/Security, in Omaha they were insistent on my son putting it through the scanner. We had talked about this at length before his trip and he respectfully insisted on a hand check. They held him up for about 15 minutes, but finally relented and did the hand check.
Once on the plane, all I could get out of my son (who was flying solo) was that situating the horn was “challenging” (more on that later). He got a few questions from the stewardesses, but they were fine with it once he produced the ticket. He made it to NYC with no issues and did his thing.
My wife and I went to see his final performance in NYC, and I was in charge of getting the horn home as my son was staying a couple of extra days.
My experience with the TSA in LaGuardia Airport was much smoother than what my son dealt with. I had to remove the horn from the gig bag and put the bag through the scanner. The TSA agent carefully moved the horn to the other side of the metal detector and gently handed it back to me to put back in the gig bag. No problems whatsoever. I have a feeling that they’re a little more used to that sort of thing at LaGuardia than in Omaha, hence the easier time.
When getting ready to board, I heard one gate agent whisper to the other that I’d have to check the horn. Felt my blood pressure rise, but simply said “nope” and produced the ticket for the horn. No other issues once I did that.
Once on, situating the tuba was tough. I had visions of it sitting nicely on the seat while I munched pretzels and drank a Coke, but this was not to be. Those of you familiar with the Ursus know that it’s pretty compact, but the bottom bow ended up being in one seat and then it was draped across my lap. So I was cuddled up to the bell for the 3.5 hour trip back to Omaha.
After all that traveling, upon getting home I noticed a tiny, shallow ping on the bell that my son had actually told me about before the trip home. It may or may not have happened during transport. That was the only damage noted. Not bad for all that traveling!
My take home points:
- Try to do a little research on which airlines seem to be more instrument friendly. Read their policies regarding instrument transport.
- TSA was fine, but be ready to politely insist on a hand check of the horn, even if you meet resistance.
- Think about the size of the tuba before going this route. There’s no way this could have worked with a 6/4 horn. Seats simply aren’t big enough.
- Be ready to produce your ticket for the tuba at any time, as there will almost certainly be questions from airline personnel.
Hopefully this is of help to some of you, but your mileage may vary!
I respect those answers, and can understand where the posters were coming from. Unfortunately there are times when you don’t have an extra 2-3 days to drive each way and don’t know a soul at the destination. For those folks, I wanted to share a little about my son’s and my experience flying with a tuba.
Just a little background. The trip was Iowa -> New York City -> Miami (tuba was driven to Miami) -> NYC (also driven back) -> Iowa. The tuba is an Ursus that was being transported in the gig bag that came with it. We decided to fly American Airlines and purchased a ticket for the horn.
Regarding TSA/Security, in Omaha they were insistent on my son putting it through the scanner. We had talked about this at length before his trip and he respectfully insisted on a hand check. They held him up for about 15 minutes, but finally relented and did the hand check.
Once on the plane, all I could get out of my son (who was flying solo) was that situating the horn was “challenging” (more on that later). He got a few questions from the stewardesses, but they were fine with it once he produced the ticket. He made it to NYC with no issues and did his thing.
My wife and I went to see his final performance in NYC, and I was in charge of getting the horn home as my son was staying a couple of extra days.
My experience with the TSA in LaGuardia Airport was much smoother than what my son dealt with. I had to remove the horn from the gig bag and put the bag through the scanner. The TSA agent carefully moved the horn to the other side of the metal detector and gently handed it back to me to put back in the gig bag. No problems whatsoever. I have a feeling that they’re a little more used to that sort of thing at LaGuardia than in Omaha, hence the easier time.
When getting ready to board, I heard one gate agent whisper to the other that I’d have to check the horn. Felt my blood pressure rise, but simply said “nope” and produced the ticket for the horn. No other issues once I did that.
Once on, situating the tuba was tough. I had visions of it sitting nicely on the seat while I munched pretzels and drank a Coke, but this was not to be. Those of you familiar with the Ursus know that it’s pretty compact, but the bottom bow ended up being in one seat and then it was draped across my lap. So I was cuddled up to the bell for the 3.5 hour trip back to Omaha.
After all that traveling, upon getting home I noticed a tiny, shallow ping on the bell that my son had actually told me about before the trip home. It may or may not have happened during transport. That was the only damage noted. Not bad for all that traveling!
My take home points:
- Try to do a little research on which airlines seem to be more instrument friendly. Read their policies regarding instrument transport.
- TSA was fine, but be ready to politely insist on a hand check of the horn, even if you meet resistance.
- Think about the size of the tuba before going this route. There’s no way this could have worked with a 6/4 horn. Seats simply aren’t big enough.
- Be ready to produce your ticket for the tuba at any time, as there will almost certainly be questions from airline personnel.
Hopefully this is of help to some of you, but your mileage may vary!