Flying internationally with trombone

[izMadman]

Thanks for the tips, John! Detachable case sounds like a good option for navigating different transportation modes. And genius idea about the tracker, I'll definitely consider that for my next trip

[brtnats]

Not my trombone, BUT…

I flew half way across the USA and back recently with my banjo in a hard case, which takes up at least as much space as my Cronkhite bags, and I’ve learned the following:

1. Being polite but direct makes a difference.
2. Packing your instrument as if it will be unexpectedly checked really helps for the unexpected. 3 our of 4 times recently, I got my “that needs to be checked” big instrument and case onto the plane and into the plane’s “closets.” The 1/4 time it got gate-checked into the luggage carousel, it was fine because I packed it well in a hard case. I really think this is the best of all worlds: Get it on the plane, regardless of the gate agents, and then pack it well enough so that the plane’s crew asks you to gate-check it to your final destination. The moral of the story here is to over-prepare in most circumstances.

[harrisonreed]

Fly JAL or ANA if you can. They have instrument flight cases and different rules about handling instruments.

[Digidog]

Fly JAL or ANA if you can. They have instrument flight cases and different rules about handling instruments.

I flew ANA a couple of years ago, and they let my guitars and trombones fly in a separate compartment for delicate goods. I got to load - and unload - it all myself, on the tarmac before boarding, in a luggage compartment with snap-locked safety boxes of different sizes in the front of the aircraft, slightly behind and beneath the cockpit (I think it also was a heated compartment, since the cases didn't feel cold when I unloaded them at Narita). SAS and KLM have also let me do similar packings with my instruments, while Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa have been more difficult to negotiate with; though I came to acceptable solutions with them too, but not as accomodating as this was.

Still: When I fly with any of my instruments, be it guitars or trombones, I always pack them in flight cases. I have some old Selmer trombone flight cases and two newer Accord dittos, and though they are cumbersome and irregularly shaped, they have more than once really saved me and my instruments.

The real trick of flying with instruments, is to bring as few, as light, and as small as possible at every time.

[harrisonreed]

Fly JAL or ANA if you can. They have instrument flight cases and different rules about handling instruments.

I flew ANA a couple of years ago, and they let my guitars and trombones fly in a separate compartment for delicate goods. I got to load - and unload - it all myself, on the tarmac before boarding, in a luggage compartment with snap-locked safety boxes of different sizes in the front of the aircraft, slightly behind and beneath the cockpit (I think it also was a heated compartment, since the cases didn't feel cold when I unloaded them at Narita.

It hits different when you fly with a company that gives a care about the people and things they are transporting, and then fly again with a company that does not.

[blast]

Well, just took a Rath from UK to US and back...in a cheap Chinese case...in the hold. Mad ?? Possibly, but I had no damage at all. I put the valve section in one of our suitcases and packed the bell and slide with clothes. Job done. Those Chinese cases are pretty protective...and cheap.

[DougHulme]

I'd second Blasts comments. Also I had an amusing (well it is now several years later) incident whilst flying to an ITF in Salt Lake with my trombone. I put it in the hold at Heathrow. The connecting flight was via Chicago. In Chicago you were required to collect your baggage from one carousel personally and transfer it to another to your destination. So I had my trombone in my hands in the USA as I changed belts. When I got to Salt lake City I waited and waited and waited some more for my trombone to appear... it didnt! They said they could see it was still in transit and they would deliver it to me at my hotel. When I eventually got to the hotel there was a message waiting to say they had located my trombone... it was at Heathrow airport! They also said they would deliver it to my hotel by Sunday (ITF finishing on Sunday). At my request they delivered it the same day back to my home in England, much to my wifes amusement. Thank you to Steve Shires (who was still Steve Shires in those days!!) for lending me a horn off of his trade stand. My horn in question was in a Bonna case and was the George Roberts single valve Kanstul - made it to and back from the USA all on its own without any damage. The counselling I received meant I was emotionally unharmed by the experience too!!... Doug

[elainechat]

I’m glad the horn came through it unscathed, and pretty wild it made it all the way back to the UK on its own.

I had a trip through France recently with my trombone (booked it through https://gowithguide.com/France), and fortunately everything went smoothly, but stories like yours definitely make me think twice about how I pack, especially when flights involve layovers. Out of curiosity, do you now always carry on, or has that experience changed how you travel with your horn in general?

[DougHulme]

I always carry on now but choose the case wisely and pack it just in case it has to go in the hold - it never has but I have had a few 'discussions' about it before getting on with it - its getting worse now they have become more money grabbing about what you can carry on - in europe anyway... Doug

[jacobgarchik]

Saw this on the AFM IG and realized this happened to me recently and is probably the new norm -



US airports have new machines and often don't want you to put your horn on the belt, but have it hand inspected. Among other things, they ask you to take everything out of the case. Then they swab it with a device. But most worryingly they remove various parts of the horn, inspect them, and put them back. Yup, they are taking slides out, looking at them, and trying to put them back properly.

I have a Marcus Bonna jazz screw bell case, tiny and great, but I'm now thinking that I might have to reinforce the slide compartment's magnetic snaps, because they are not so intuitive to reattach. One of the agents didn't really close them properly, letting the slide sit loosely in the case as he returned it. Horn was fine, this time. Disaster waiting to happen.

Maybe I need to put a diagram in, a more secure snap, or a giant red sign that says "extremely fragile". oy.

[heldenbone]

Regarding U.S. TSA employees, it would appear that the system itself has left them so jaded they no longer really care, or need to, that they are dealing with fellow human beings. I don't have an answer beyond treating them with civility and hoping for reciprocity. Elsewhere on the site you can see pictures of two different bass trombone travel cases (heavy duty Vault, and repurposed viola) I've built, either of which still could get lost en route.

[LeTromboniste]

Yes, manual inspection at this point has become the norm. Some airports keep a separate scanner at one security post, often the one reserved for fast track/priority, that can still handle items that don't fit in the bins and can't go in the new scanners, but it's pretty rare that I don't have to open the case. In Europe at least they let you open the case, and usually handle the instrument yourself. I did recently have one guy who tried to open the case upside down. I corrected him I was in the middle of asking him if actually I could be allowed to handle the instrument myself because it's fragile when he started to lift the slide out of its slot, with the inner slide angled down. I don't have a slide lock on my instruments, so the slide started moving out.... I kind of yelped "careful, the side's gonna fall!" and he secured it before it felt, took in the disapproving looks from passengers and other security personnel, then apologized and allowed me to take the instrument out and help him inspect him. If that had happened without me present, that slide would have needed a new tenon, and an alignment job...

[CalgaryTbone]

One friend of mine once tried to gently correct a TSA agent about how to handle their instrument without damaging it. In that moment, they took a step forward and the agent put his hand on his gun and told them to step back. Another time, I heard about a check without the owner present where a mouthpiece was placed back in the case without securing it, and the instrument looked like one of those old "hammered" bells.

Jim Scott

[jacobgarchik]

https://www.thestrad.com/news/lufthansa ... 1771500691

"According to her latest post on Instagram, Lufthansa will now take this account through the ‘added measurements rule’, whereby the length, height, and depth of the instrument case will be added together, allowing for a combined total of up to 125cm."

Dimensions of a Marcus Bonna detachable Jazz Case, which I use for my Bach 36, from Thomann website

Outer dimensions: 86.0 x 26.0 x 14.0 cm

total = 126 cm

[LeTromboniste]

Yeah that could be a game changer for me. I've been avoiding Lufthansa Group (and therefore Star Alliance) thus far in favour of Air France-KLM (and SkyTeam) because of the huge difference in treatment with instruments, despite the former having having better options based on my locations in Switzerland and Bremen (direct or one-stop for Lufthansa instead of minimum one-stop and sometimes two with Air France-KLM). On the other hand, I currently get free luggage and food because of status, so the fares would also have to be cheaper enough for it worth it to switch over...

[jacobgarchik]

"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."

so it's not just flight crew who need to be educated about musical instruments, it's also journalists. C'mon, this makes no sense nytimes.


https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/trav ... tions.html

[harrisonreed]

Accurate journalism or no, I can imagine the reasoning:

"Brass instruments are full of Covid -- that is how"

[KWL]

Yeah, that’s not what the TSA says.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... nstruments

[jacobgarchik]

It's not what the TSA says...and also what the TSA says makes no sense. Why should there be different rules about carry-ons for "cymbals" than for a trumpet? I don't think this site even indicates official TSA policy. There has been ongoing negotiations with AFM that are not reflected here.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... ms/cymbals

[LeTromboniste]

It's not what the TSA says...and also what the TSA says makes no sense. Why should there be different rules about carry-ons for "cymbals" than for a trumpet? I don't think this site even indicates official TSA policy. There has been ongoing negotiations with AFM that are not reflected here.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-scr ... ms/cymbals

The TSA doesn't regulate whether instruments can be carried or not beyond safety questions, like if an instrument or something in a case was could be considered a weapon and therefore was forbidden on board. The FAA does.

The TSA page here is more about what is allowed to be carried through security checkpoints, and what is allowed to be checked in. Hence the notice for string instruments that special procedures apply to string instruments (i.e. musician is allowed to request to be present at inspection), that brass instruments are allowable as checked luggage without special rules, and whether they can be brought as carry-on has to be determined with the airline (i.e. Whether the instrument fits in the plane being flown, or has an extra seat, which is not the purview of the TSA).

The journalist has misunderstood both what the TSA says, and also what the role of the TSA is with regards to this issue. They don't seem to be aware of the FAA "final rule" despite it being over a decade old at this point.