Flying with a cello?

Has anyone flown recently with a cello? I’m trying to book a couple of flights for auditions for S. He obviously does not want to check his instrument. Southwest has said explicitly they require it to be checked. I plan to buy it a seat, but I’m still having trouble finding sure information about how this works. For one of the destinations the only other airline with a direct flight is American. I haven’t gotten through to them yet.
I’m also looking into renting an instrument at the destination, but S would rather have his own.

My daughter plays violin/viola but she travels constantly with cellists. They always book a seat for the cello. As far as I’m aware Southwest allows cellists to buy the instrument a seat, but I’d advise both calling them (which you are trying to do right now), emailing them, and also doing web research on problems with Southwest. Even airlines that are usually “safe” for instruments sometimes make egregious mistakes when a flight crew is uninformed about their own policy. While it is possible to check a cello if you have a flight case, as i’m sure you already know, doing so presents a big logistical problem at the other end because you have an enormous case to deal with until the return flight. As an aside, bassists in her traveling groups usually arrange to borrow an instrument at the other end.

[edit]: A lot of instrumentalists I know keep copies of the airline’s flight policy printed out in their cases. My daughter for one keeps a certificate from our local international airport that confirms her ownership of her instruments/bows–this is mainly for international travel, though.

Why don’t you rent a travel case from a music store? Or perhaps his music teacher has one he can borrow. My son checks his cello all the time - he has a flight case that fits over his BAM case. But he doesn’t have a particularly expensive cello. The one time (in over 14 years of flying), on Southwest, where there was damage - our homeowner’s personal articles insurance paid fully for the repair.

Also, if you expect your son to be attending college a plane flight away - it would be worth it to purchase a travel case.

However, if you want to buy a seat - it needs to be in the front row of the cabin. And they give you an extension seat belt for it.

Based on what Spritmanager says, could it be that the bulkhead seats for the flights you are looking at are already booked?

I did speak to Southwest twice. I got different information each time, but their (vague) written policy and the more knowledgeable-seeming answer was that a cello can’t have a seat and must be checked. I haven’t gotten through to American, but I’ve reached out to a couple of friends who work for them.
If son does end up attending a distant school for cello (he’s also auditioning on voice) we will have to work through the logistics. Just for the auditions (he only has two that are further than a drive) I thought we could just book a seat, but it’s not so simple as it seemed. I haven’t looked into finding a travel case but that may turn out to be the best option in the end.

Not anymore. They changed their policy in 2017 IIRC

https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/baggage/special-luggage-pol.html

@Parentof2014grad – my son (high school student) traveled with his cello last year and was able to buy a seat for his cello on Southwest. He had planned on doing so again earlier this year and we were informed Southwest had changed its policy and now all cellos need to be checked. We did not pursue it further and opted to drive.

We further corroborated the policy change here: https://www.cellocentral.com/can-i-fly-with-a-cello/

That’s too bad that SW changed their policy because they used to be pretty accommodating. Because they don’t assign seats until boarding at the gate they would allow someone who had bought a seat for a cello to be in the first group to board and make sure they got one of the front seats.
My S has also flown Delta, United and Air Canada with a seat purchased for a cello and those flights went well. It is a good idea to carry a copy of the airlines policy with you and he has always booked his flights by calling the airline directly so that they can make sure to assign him the correct seats.

My son plays cello and we always buy an extra seat for the instrument. So far we had no issues with United and Alaska. When purchasing tickets, instead of doing over the internet, call the airlines directly and tell them you are buying one seat as CABIN BAGGAGE for cello. Too bad that Southwest does not work in this way. You might check with multiple airlines.