Air Canada ‘broke the neck of my $4,000 guitar’
mainKevin Ramessar was flying home to Kitchener from playing lead guitar in the Carole King Musical on Broadway.
He checked in his acoustic guitar, a $4,000 Czech-made Stonebridge, in a rigid case with fragile stickers all over.
When he collected the case in Toronto, the guitar had been snapped at the neck.
Air Canada has informed him that ‘in accordance with the federal Carriage by Air Act’, its liability for damage or loss is limited to a maximum $2,075.47. They are refusing to enter into further correspondence.
Air Canada was recently named best airline for musicians.
Kevin’s guitar
Unfortunately, that spot on most mahogany-necked, steel-string guitars is especially fragile. The wood is thin there because the internal truss rod terminates just past the nut. The guitarist’s best bet (other than carrying on) is to loosen the strings until they are absolutely slack and immobilize the guitar within the case so that the neck can’t move at all if luggage goons decide to play toss the instrument.
Machines don’t read labels.