6 Music - Music News

Airlines will not be forced to allow musicians to carry large instruments on to planes, the government has said.

In the House of Lords, Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones said many items worth thousands of pounds were suffering "terrible" damage in luggage holds.

But minister Earl Attlee ruled out regulation to ensure instruments such as guitars and cellos could travel on seats next to their owners.

At the moment, every airline has a different policy, and many musicians complain that airline staff are not always aware of how to deal with large instruments.

"It's never easy," said Jacqueline Thomas, cellist for the Brodsky Quartet, who have played with Elvis Costello, Bjork and Sting.

"Every airline has a different way of checking my cello in. It either gets a boarding pass, or it doesn't get a boarding pass - and a lot of staff don't seem to know which it should have.

Rachael Lander, who has accompanied The Last Shadow Puppets and Ellie Goulding as part of the Raven Quartet (pictured) said she had endured similar travails.

"My cello is 200 years old and I don't want it at the mercy of the baggage handlers, so I have to buy an extra ticket.

"But even with a ticket, we have security issues because the cello has a metal pin in it, and once we're on the airplane it has to be strapped in upside down by air traffic people in neon jackets.

"It's a real palaver every time."

"It would just be easier if there was one blanket rule, and we knew what that rule was" - Rachael Lander, Raven Quartet

The Lords heard that some budget airlines had been particularly unhelpful.

Lord Clement-Jones told peers: "There are terrible cases where valuable and cherished instruments are smashed up in the holds of aircraft as result of musicians not being able to take them on board with them."

He added that regulation would "shame the airline involved".

Earl Attlee, a Conservative, said: "My department is well aware of the issue but if airlines want to acquire a bad reputation with musicians then they can do so, but it is at their own risk."

He added: "A difficulty is, if we regulated, we would get the lowest common denominator and it might discourage the industry from coming up with an innovative solution."

Ms Thomas said that, even without legislation, an industry standard was "absolutely essential".

"Even violins and violas are coming up against terrible problems now, even if the musician has no other hand luggage."

Ms Lander added: "It would just be easier if there was one blanket rule, and we knew what those rules were."

"No musician in their right mind is going to put their instrument in the hold."