Ottawa man may sue Air Canada after viola smashed
A 20-year-old Ottawa man says he might sue Air Canada for damages after his $14,000 viola arrived in pieces.
Paul Casey, a music student at University of Ottawa, was returning from performing with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in Europe when Air Canada insisted he check his viola as baggage.
He was told the airline has a strict policy against taking carry-on items weighing more than 10 kilogram.
Although the instrument case bore fragile stickers, it arrived with a snapped neck, a broken back and about 12 cracks on its front.
“We just figured it would last. We figured we would have it forever,” he said of the custom-made instrument.
Air Canada sent him a cheque for $1,600 compensation. That’s not nearly enough to replace it, he said.
Casey returned the cheque because he’s thinking about getting lawyers involved.
Guy Hamilton, the Ottawa violin maker who made Casey’s instrument, says it can’t be repaired.
It has sentimental value for Hamilton, because it’s the first instrument he made in Canada.
“It’s the first instrument that I know of that’s been destroyed,” he said in an interview with CBC Television.
Casey wonders why he was allowed to take the instrument on board in the past, but cannot now.
But the Air Transport Association of Canada warns musicians they shouldn’t expect any special treatment and says the new rules about cabin baggage will be more consistently enforced.
Other Ottawa area musicians say they fear they will have the same experience when they travel.
Joan Harrison, an NAC cellist, said she buys a separate ticket for her cello, so it can sit on a seat beside her, but now the airline is preventing that.
“Air Canada three times this year has not let me take my cello on board even though I’ve had a ticket,” she said, “because you don’t know what kind of airplane you’re getting and they happen to be small flights.” .
Instruments such her cello are very valuable, as well as a means of making a living, she said.
“I could sell my instruments and could buy another house. You spend years saving up. You have mortgages on your instruments.”
David Goldblatt, a performer with the NAC and representative of the American Federation of Musicians, said performers are worried. Many won’t check their instruments and that may mean they can’t travel.
“We have a tour coming up in November and, honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do. I believe it’s a charter flight, but the same rules apply to charter flights as far as I know,” he said.
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