A violinist says a United Airlines supervisor tried to wrestle away her antique violin worth tens of thousands of dollars as they argued about whether the musician could carry it on to the plane.
Yennifer Correia intended to fly from Houston to St. Louis on Sunday to play with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra when the altercation happened. Although federal guidelines allow musicians to bring instruments on board as carry-on luggage under certain conditions, a United supervisor told Correia she had to pay $50 to check her violin with her checked luggage, she told KPRC 2.
Correia asked for the supervisor’s full name, and then a scuffle erupted after the supervisor allegedly tried to take a sticker off Correia’s suitcase with her name on it. Correia then said she screamed for help because she thought the supervisor was trying to take the luggage from her.
The supervisor threatened to call airport security, but walked away when Correia said, “Please do,” according to The Strad.
Because of the situation, Correia missed her original flight and had to take a different flight on another airline, which caused her to miss her first rehearsal with Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Raw Story reported. She also says her hand was injured in the scuffle over the violin.
Twitter users wondered why anyone would still fly United and whether the fact that Correia is Muslim had anything to do with the altercation.
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