The violin of the Irish violinist Liam Byrne has died in the baggage chaos of Schiphol. Deeply disappointed and under the influence of many mini bottles of white wine, he complained on social media. That led to so many negative reactions that he now stands up for the baggage porters at the airport: “Of course I’m angry that my violin is broken, but I’m even more angry at the bad working conditions.”
The violinist flew for a gig with his beloved viola da gamba, which is held between the legs while playing, to Amsterdam. The chaos at Schiphol had not escaped his notice either, and Byrne even hesitated to cancel the performance. “I had a bad premonition a few days before the flight, but in almost twenty years it has never gone wrong. Because I didn’t want to disappoint my colleagues, I decided to go anyway.”
“There are so many parties and individuals working together, so there are so many ways things can go wrong”
At about seventy percent of his performances, the organization pays an extra seat for his instrument. There was no money for that this time, explains the violinist. “It’s a nightmare to book an extra seat for your instrument. You sometimes spend hours on the phone with difficult to reach customer services. And with such a large violin through customs, it’s no picnic either.”
Hand luggage
He therefore decided to take the risk and check his instrument in as hand luggage. “That makes traveling so much easier and cheaper. I’ve been taking this risk for years, but this time it went wrong. Once I arrived at Schiphol, I checked my violin and discovered that it had broken.”
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After quite a few bottles of white wine, he decided to tell his story on Twitter. This led to a rush of criticism at Schiphol and the luggage carriers. “Well-intentioned but stupid comments. It’s ridiculous to say that the staff ‘has no respect for musicians or instruments’. An airline or an airport is not an entity. There are so many individuals working together, so there are so many ways on which things can go wrong. No matter how many stickers you put on it, you can’t expect everyone to handle your valuable luggage with the same care.”
Broken system
He is immensely annoyed by the anger that the baggage chaos at Schiphol evokes among the victims. “Stop blaming others for your unhappiness. Misplaced anger will only make it worse. The person you direct that anger to is usually not responsible for your problem and cannot fix it. It is the fault of a broken system. That is many times worse than a broken instrument.”
In the end, he mostly blames himself. “If I had bought a chair for my violin, this wouldn’t have happened. Fortunately, we have insurance for that, and lots of mini bottles of wine.”
