American Airlines passenger kicked off flight after buying seat for her $30,000 cello

A musician claims she was kicked off an American Airlines flight because officials refused to let her carry her cello on board.

 

A musician who had booked a separate seat for her $30,000 cello says she was booted off an American Airlines flight because the instrument was too large.

 

Jingjing Hu, a student at the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago, was heading home from a music festival in Miami.

 

Despite purchasing a seat for her cello, Hu was told at the boarding gate in Miami that the instrument was too big and she could not board with it.

 

“When I flew from Chicago to Miami, I didn’t have any trouble with that,” Hu told WMAQ.

 

Hu claims she was escorted off the plane by law enforcement, even though her instrument met the seat size restrictions.

 

The musician’s husband Jay Tang wrote on Facebook: “I purchased two round trip tickets for her and her cello on Apr.2 on the phone directly from AA and told them specifically that one ticket is for the cello as cabin baggage. I was told it is absolutely allowed and she won’t have any problem.”

 

American confirmed that there was an issue with the cello on the flight from Miami, which the carrier chalked up to a “miscommunication.”

 

“A passenger on flight 2457 from Miami to Chicago was traveling with her cello. 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, a Boeing 737. We rebooked our passenger on a flight the next morning on a larger aircraft, a Boeing 767. We provided her a hotel and meal accommodations for the inconvenience. We apologize for the misunderstanding and customer relations has reached out to her.”