The violinist has written an open letter to the CEO of Lufthansa, after she was recently forced to carry her unprotected Guadagnini violin on a six-hour international journey with the airline
The violinist Carolin Widmann has written an open letter to the CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, following the incident on 28 November that saw her travel on two Lufthansa flights with her 1782 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini removed from its case.
Widmann was travelling home from Helsinki Vantaa airport to Leipzig, via Frankfurt. She is a regular traveller with Lufthansa and holds Senator frequent flyer status with the airline.
Despite having travelled numerous times with her instrument on Lufthansa without issue, the carrier Airpro told Widmann that she would have to purchase an extra seat to bring her violin on board, after a Lufthansa airline representative stated the instrument case exceeded the measurements allowed on their flights.
The flight was fully booked with no extra seats available; Widmann was then forced to check in the empty case as luggage in the flight hold and carry her bare instrument in her arms during her travels.
In her open letter, posted to social media, Widmann stated: ’I went through the security control and travelled all the way to Leipzig with my bare naked violin in my arms, wrapped into nothing by my own sweater!
’This precious piece of art was completely unprotected during the six hours of my journey - at three different airports (Helsinki, Frankfurt, Leipzig), in two transfer buses to and from the gate in Frankfurt and Leipzig, in the Senator lounge in Leipzig and on board of two planes.
’National and international media have reported extensively on my case which however happened completely in accordance with Lufthansa rules.
’The only alternative would have been to check in my violin in its case like an ordinary suitcase. Of course that is unthinkable, considering the value of our instruments which can be up to several million Euros.
’I am still in shock about what has happened to me and my violin. I and all my colleagues are deeply concerned and worried.’
Widmann then outlines the rules around the world regarding bringing violins on planes, saying that all airlines in the US are obliged to allow small instruments in their cases on board as long as they fit in the overhead bins. She states that in Europe however, airlines have no such obligation, with each company manifesting its own rules.
She states that British Airways, Turkish Airlines and FinnAir hold clear guidelines allowing violins onboard: ’The aforementioned airlines that explicitly allow small instruments state a sum of all dimensions (length, width, depth). In the case of FinnAir for example, these added dimensions are allowed to be 125cm.’
She says that British Airways names specific instruments allowed onboard, including violins.
Widmann concludes: ’I would like to ask you cordially and politely to take my shocking and scandalous incident at the Lufthansa check-in counter as an occasion to rethink your company’s policies and to add an appendix to the hand luggage rules for small instruments.
’An airline that propagates a premium prestige, an airline that stands for customer satisfaction and excellent service but discriminates against musicians, an airline that excludes us from travelling due to the measurements and the value of our instruments we use for our work - can this possibly be your spirit?
’Sincerely yours, in expectation of a positive answer that may regain my trust in your company, Carolin Widmann.’
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