FIM

If your musi­cal ins­tru­ment (inclu­ding case or cove­ring) exceeds the sizing requi­re­ments for carryon items (10“x16“x24”), it can be carried on board if it will fit in an overhead bin or under a seat onboard the air­craft and the­re is spa­ce avai­la­ble when you board the air­craft for the instrument.

In the event you are tra­ve­ling with a musi­cal ins­tru­ment that will not fit in an overhead bin or under a seat onboard, you may pur­cha­se a seat for the ins­tru­ment and carry it in the cabin under the follo­wing conditions:
– The ins­tru­ment must fit in the seat without bloc­king air­craft sig­na­ge and be secu­red with a seatbelt.
– The ins­tru­ment must be pla­ced in the first row and in a seat clo­ser to the win­dow than any other Customer in that row.
– Reservations must be made and a tic­ket must be pur­cha­sed at a char­ge no grea­ter than the Child’s Fare. Musical ins­tru­ments can­not be trans­por­ted in pla­ce of a free com­pa­nion under any fare promotion.

Please Note: Some musi­cal ins­tru­ments (e.g. dou­ble bass, cello, etc.) can­not be secu­red in a seat and must be trans­por­ted as chec­ked bag­ga­ge. Oversize or over­weight char­ges will apply if the ins­tru­ment is bet­ween 62 – 150 inches in size (outsi­de length plus width plus height inclu­ding case or cove­ring) or if the ins­tru­ment weighs bet­ween 51 – 165 pounds (inclu­ding case or covering).

A musi­cal ins­tru­ment may be chec­ked in subs­ti­tu­tion of one pie­ce of the free Checked Baggage allo­wan­ce for each Passenger at no char­ge on a one-​item-​for-​one-​bag basis.

Instruments that are trans­por­ted in a soft-​sided case or other pac­ka­ging that is not strong enough to pro­tect the ins­tru­ment under nor­mal bag­ga­ge hand­ling con­di­tions will be sub­ject to limi­ted relea­se, which means that Southwest assu­mes no lia­bi­lity for any dama­ge sus­tai­ned to the item during transport.

Carrier will not accept any musi­cal ins­tru­ment if the sum of the length, height, and width of the outsi­de linear dimen­sions of the ins­tru­ment (inclu­ding case or cove­ring) exceeds 150 inches, or the weight of the musi­cal ins­tru­ment exceeds 165 pounds (inclu­ding case or covering).

(EN) The com­pan­y’s policy inclu­des unde­si­ra­ble res­tric­tions regar­ding the carrying of ins­tru­ments on a seat, espe­cially for cellos.

It is also unplea­sant that the default policy refers to stan­dard size requi­re­ments for carry-​on items befo­re admit­ting that ins­tru­ments may actually be carried in the cabin when they fit in the overhead bins or under a seat.

For the­se reasons, the bad­ge is down­gra­ded to amber.