Air travel out of tune for musicians By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY Catching a flight to a gig comes as naturally to saxophonist Bruce Mishkit= =20 as blowing a jazz riff. So the musician was shocked last February when=20 Alaska Airlines forced him to buy a full-fare ticket for his tenor sax and= =20 then instructed him, on the plane, to stow the instrument in the overhead=20 bin. After some letter writing and an assist from the musician's union,=20 Mishkit got a refund. But the experience sounded a sour note. "They gave me= =20 no assurances that it wouldn't happen again," he says. The post-Sept. 11=20 world has traveling musicians humming the blues as they navigate airport=20 security. Guitarists, violinists and woodwind players, used to toting their= =20 expensive and delicate instruments on planes, say the process is=20 complicated by: =B7 Inconsistent policies. Airline policies vary when it comes to what= =20 musical instruments can be stowed on planes. Alaska Airlines has relaxed the policy that forced Mishkit to buy a ticket= =20 for his sax. Now, any musical instrument that can reasonably fit in the=20 overhead bin is allowed. United Airlines also allows instruments "within=20 reason," spokesman Chris Brathwaite says American Airlines says its policy= =20 is the same for any carry-on: No instrument case can be longer than 45=20 inches on any side. =B7 Fewer accessories. No longer do musicians carry screwdrivers,=20 string cutters and other accessories in their cases. Boston-based recording= =20 artist Johnny A. says he had to surrender a special wire cutter that he has= =20 carried in his guitar case for years at Boston Logan International. He had= =20 never seen another cutter like that one before the incident, "and I've=20 never found one since," he says. Cellists have learned they need to detach= =20 the end pin, a sharp metal peg that keeps their instrument from sliding on= =20 the floor, and carry it in their checked luggage. =B7 Tougher scrutiny. Musicians say they fear checkpoint guards will= =20 damage instruments or equipment. Emerson Hart, lead singer of the rock band Tonic, says a checkpoint worker= =20 in Philadelphia asked him to remove the strings from his $6,000 Gibson=20 guitar. He said he told the worker that taking off the strings could damage= =20 the guitar, especially given the pressures that the plane would encounter=20 at cruising altitude. The guard eventually relented. "I've actually cut=20 down carrying my guitar now. It's such a hassle," says the Nashville-based= =20 Hart, who flies about 150,000 miles a year. "I see all these guys walking=20 on the plane with their laptops. It's their work. And this is my work."A=20 singer who goes only by the name Steely, based in Huntington Beach, Calif.,= =20 says the $4,000 voice transmitter that she carries with her on planes=20 received so much scrutiny at a checkpoint in Los Angeles International that= =20 she thought, "My god, they are going to wreck this thing." On the way back= =20 from Pittsburgh, she says security workers didn't give it a second glance. After hearing of these kinds of incidents involving its members, the=20 American Federation of Musicians is pushing for new airport security=20 regulations that take musicians into account. "We want language in the=20 rules that will give the same guidance to every airline," says union=20 President Thomas Lee. Musicians, he says, have few options when it comes to= =20 transporting their instruments. Putting a $100,000 violin "in the belly of= =20 a plane where it may be subjected to extreme temperatures or pressure would= =20 damage the instrument." Lee says he has written to the new Transportation=20 Security Administration to urge regulations regarding transportation of=20 musical instruments in airplane cabins. Agency spokesman David Steigman says, "TSA is constantly looking at its=20 policies to be as customer- and service-friendly as we can." That's little= =20 consolation for Mishkit, who says he's now never quite sure what to expect= =20 when he arrives at the airport. He says he'd flown with horns 30 or 40=20 times over the years and had never had a problem. Some musicians, however,= =20 don't depend on airline policies to get their instruments on the plane.=20 They play on their popularity. Acoustic guitarist Dimitri Diatchenko says=20 he takes his guitar out in the airport lounge and starts to strum. "I=20 usually get a crowd of folks who dig the entertainment while they wait.=20 Airline employees all hear ... how good I am, and they let me go and put my= =20 guitar in the overhead. That's that." 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