Airline kicks off a woman and her cello

ASAM NEWS

AMERICAN AIRLINES is apologizing for the “miscommunication” and “misunderstanding” after its staff kicked a musician off its flight with a cello.
Jingjing Hu purchased a separate ticket for her instrument just like she always has.

According to NBC Chicago, she has been performing for two decades and is currently a student at DePaul University.

Her husband, Jay Tang, posted on Facebook that he made it clear to American that he was purchasing a separate ticket specifically for the instrument. He says he was assured that was OK.

“We always buy our extra ticket for our cello so that we can carry our cello on the plane,” said Hu to NBC Chicago.

The station says FAA regulations allow for this as long as a ticket is purchased for the instrument and that the instrument doesn’t weight more than 165 pounds.

Hu’s cello weighs less than 10 pounds.

The regulations also include a clause that the instrument must meet seat restrictions for the specific aircraft.

“You had so many chances to tell me you cannot board yesterday,” said Hu. “You never told me until I sit down.”

Hu was told she could board a different flight in an hour.

She got off the flight as the pilot gave her the peace sign.

Her troubles did not end there.

“After she got off the plane and trying to find the next flight that was guaranteed, she was told that the next flight was also “too small” for the cello, and they called the police because my wife was “not being understandable,” wrote her husband Tang on Facebook. “Fairly speaking no one can understand what’s happening. So surrounded by three law enforcement officers, my wife was told again that either she purchase first or business class tickets out of her pocket or she could not fly back to Chicago on an American Airlines flight because of Federal Aviation Administrationregulations.”

After spending the night in a hotel, she finally boarded a flight from Miami back to Chicago.

“Unfortunately there was a miscommunication about whether the cello she was traveling with met the requirements to fit onboard the particular aircraft she was flying…we apologize for the misunderstanding and customer relations will be reaching out to her,” American Airlines said in a statement.

“Thanks for everyone who shared this and supports us. She is exhausted but physically OK. Her well being is the only thing I care,” said Tang.
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