Recent stories in the New York Times and on wire services such as Reuters underscore a small but significant collateral problem stemming specifically from the alleged terrorist plot to blow up airline flights originating in the U.K. in August, as well as from the larger issue of security aloft. Several symphony orchestras and other musical performance groups have had to cancel individual dates and even entire tours in the wake of the U.K. plot reports as British airport authorities and security agencies denied passengers any carry-ons, including their instruments or music-related technologies such as laptops. The implications for touring concert shows are enormous. Wayde Daniel, manager of Soundmoves, a global shipper of music technology gear on Long Island, NY, says fast turn-around shipments of racks, consoles and processing gear for tours has been significantly disrupted. "We normally send a lot of equipment out on passenger flights to clients who need a replacement piece on a moment's notice," he said. "The changes implemented by the TSA [Transportation Safety Administration] have changed all that. Now, we have to ship the equipment on cargo freight flights. Those tend to leave once a day and generally at night, whereas before we had the option of a dozen flights or more to the U.S. and Europe, all day long."
Several symphony orchestras, including the Orchestra of St. Luke, from New York, called off tours on as little as three days notice, citing the reluctance of musicians to entrust instruments valued in the tens of thousands of dollars to aircraft cargo holds and airline baggage handlers. The British Musicians Union has declared that the tightened carry-on rules would have a "devastating impact" on tours and revenues.
The American Federation of Musicians has putatively negotiated an arrangement with the TSA regarding musical instrument carry-ons, but the TSA has said that the agreement is not binding.
Beyond the immediate impact stemming from the August incident, the TSA has been more strictly enforcing other post-9/11 regulations. Specifically, they are demanding that freight forwarders make in-person visits to each of their "known shippers"–clients that ship 20 items or more a month–at least annually and have them execute TSA forms that recertify that status, then file those forms with the TSA and keep them on hand for what Daniel says have become more frequent random and unannounced compliance audits.
"If the Stones are in town I have to drive over to Giants Stadium and get them to sign the form before I can deliver any equipment to the venue," Daniel says. "I had a band the other day that needed a piece to go from Dallas to Minneapolis for a show that night. They were not a known shipper, and there were no freight flights till later that night, which would have been too late. As a result, we never shipped the piece and they never got it."
Daniel adds that this is not only hurting the performance of the shows but also stifling revenues for them and other shippers, as well as for equipment rental companies.
Laptops, a key piece of gear for mixers and often containing complete audio and lighting cues and presets for venues, can be carried on U.S. domestic flights as well as U.S. airline flights to the U.K., but may not be allowed on originating in the U.K., even aboard American carriers. Laptops are routinely reported as one of the pieces of baggage that most went missing or were damaged in cargo handling by several travel marketing analysts.
Menc.com, a musician-oriented website, suggests several tactics than can be useful for more than musicians, including checking with your airline the day of your flight as regulations can change on a daily basis. It also recommends removing certain items from cases and racks, such as wire cutters and soldering irons, and anything that can be even remotely construed as a weapon.
The situation is not likely to ease anytime soon, although late August saw some easing of the new regulations regarding personal items in the U.S. and the U.K. Other mitigating actions are on the horizon.
Part of a measure that has passed the House of Representatives, section 135 of S. 1447 of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, outlines a mandate that the new Undersecretary of Transportation for Aviation Security develop new regulations to remedy inconsistent treatment of musicians and their instruments. Depending upon the final wording, new regulations could be interpreted to include music technology items critical to live performances, as well.
Meanwhile, though, other measures, such as the implementation of X-ray screening of cargo at the loading pallet level, as done routinely in the U.K. since 9/11, are not under consideration here. That will keep shippers limited to working with freight flights or limited to recertified known shippers. Combined with increased shipping costs due to fuel and security surcharges, Daniel says that touring companies can expect to pay more for services. "I don't see any other outcome," he says.
