A musician made a fitting retaliation after finding, to his horror, that luggage handlers had broken his guitar.
There's no denying that being able to jet across the world in mere hours is a modern miracle.
Perhaps even more miraculous is how the many unpleasant elements of air travel has managed to give us the miracle of flight, and then ruin it.
Advert
While being shoved into a cramped cabin full of stale recycled air and the omnipresent fear of plummeting to a flaming demise is unpleasant enough, it's even worse when you have delicate luggage.
This is what Canadian musician Dave Carroll found when he flew across the US with United Airlines along with his band, Sons of Maxwell, and his ill-fated guitar.
Carroll claimed that his guitar, which was worth around $3,500, had been severely damaged while in the custody of United Airlines.
Advert
The musician also claimed that he had been unable to take the guitar into the cabin as hand luggage, so had to check it in.
But when the instrument was badly damaged and Carroll was faced with months of fruitless negotiations with United Airlines, he decided to take things into his own hands.
Of course, these are the same hands that are very good at playing the guitar, at least when the guitar is not broken.
If you were on the internet in 2009, then you may well be familiar with the result - United Breaks Guitars.
Advert
The song was released in July 2009 and went on to become a big hit online, and a big embarrassment for United Airlines.
As of 2024, the song has 23 million views on YouTube.
The chorus is extremely catchy, going: "You broke it, you should fix it, you’re liable, just admit it, I should’ve flown with someone else, or gone by car, 'cause United breaks guitars."
Advert
Recalling the moment he realised, Carroll said: “When we got to Chicago to deplane and catch our connector, a woman behind our bass player looked out the window and said: ‘Oh my God, they’re [United baggage handlers] throwing guitars outside.’
"I asked her what she said again, and she said it the same way and it sounded as bad the second time she said it.”
The song became a sensation and caused a big headache for United, though it didn't actually have an impact on the company's stock price, as reported at the time.
Advert
In the end, the managing director of customer solutions at United, Rob Bradford, rang up Carroll to apologise.
He even asked if they could use the song in their training videos.
Kit Roberts