Air France outrages an orchestra
NewsThe Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra had trouble flying home from Boston via Paris to Yerevan.
They tell slippedisc.com:
The problem arouse on flight AF333 from Boston to Paris. The Airfrance crew refused to let on board of a transatlantic flight wide cabin airplane with big shelves conventional music instruments. The crew in a typical French “we don’t care” style, in a very arrogant way treated the musicians. They refused to take on board violas, trombones and even violins.
After very long and nervous debates the crew finally agreed to let musicians keep their instruments under the seats. Except for one viola, which was put in the hold.
Airlines behaving badly, again.
Typical of the French
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URHPrmrUSj0
This is a problem that has been encountered on many airlines and I agree that there needs to be a clear policy that appears on every airline website about how they deal with musical instruments.
That said, it also matters how a company deals with a problem, how they interact with their customers. France is probably the worst example of customer service that could be found in the Western world in 2023. Customer service is nearly non-existent in France and together with the usual French arrogance and disdain you get a crisis scenario like what the musicians from Armenia encountered.
I have a dear friend who grew up in the Soviet Union, who always tells me that doing business in France, just walking into most shops is so similar to what he remembers from the old Soviet Union, with the difference that in France they always say their meaningless, fake and ritualistic “bonjour” and then proceed to give some of the worst customer service imaginable. Hopeless and pathetic place.
“there needs to be a clear policy that appears on every airline website about how they deal with musical instruments.”
The problem, as many horror stories on Slipped Disc indicate, is getting the staff at your gate and on your aircraft to honor those policies. They will sometimes refuse to do so, even when shown that policy on the airline’s website.
This is stupid anti-French prejudice. All airlines have baggage size rules on instruments that a traveling orchestra needs to know before they travel.
In the US at least, airlines must allow musical instruments in the cabin as long as they fit in the overhead. They are exempt from the size restrictions – thanks largely to the musician’s union lobbying the FAA
A flying musician…..Which Boston were they travelling from then?
Why is this still such a problem? Can’t the International Air Transport Association issue a set of guidelines which every airline then must follow? Why do individual flight attendants get to make policy?
The reality is the airlines DO NOT CARE! End of story!
I’ve been asking this for years. I suppose different plane sizes make for different rules, and planes can be changed at the last minute for a variety of reasons. But the biggest problem is ground staff or cabin crew refusing to implement the written rules of their own airline, even when they are produced and shown to them.
And the problem there is stroppy, underpaid, undertrained people with no motivation to serve the public or save their employer hassles, plus the current ethos of airlines, which used to try to outdo one another in customer service, to squeeze every nickel out of their plane with minimal regard for the comfort of passengers.
If they are only ‘guidelines’ how could you make every airline follow them ?
I like the implication of ‘violas behaving badly’ and not earning the right to be stowed under a seat. As for the rest, nothing new under the sun.
Dogs OK. Musical instruments not OK. Values folks!!
Madam Le Pen will be looking northward to the Netherlands just now, I’m betting.
TBH not surprised with AF. Not flying with them. Arrogant and can fly.
I used to travel a lot on business. I stopped flying Air France about 15 years ago. It didn’t matter if their tix were cheaper. I experienced bad customer service, rude personnel and no one ever caring. Coincidentally, CDG is one of the worst airports in our hemisphere.
I agree. Despite having lived in France for the last twenty years I’ve managed to avoid the national carrier 99.9% of the time. A truly dispiriting experience if you get into the air at all.
I’ve travelled numerous times in the past with my cello – extra seat at half fare (sometimes even an additional meal back when that was a “thing”), bulkhead seats, seatbelt extension, blah blah blah..
What I find shocking is this incident is not about an individual musician being treated badly – those stories are legendary on this and other sites.
This is about a symphony orchestra on tour – how does something like this happen?
Air France and/or the orchestra
management not having a freaking clue or a plan??
It’s a very poor business, bashing a whole people based on one supposed experience. The French I know are among the best people I’ve met.