A world-renowned British musician said his concert in Canada was cancelled after Air Canada denied his pre-booked seat for his cello.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason gained international notoriety as a cellist after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He and his pianist sister, Isata Kanneh-Mason, were set to perform at Koerner Hall in Toronto on Wednesday.
Sheku shared details of why the duo was unable to make it to the city in a joint Instagram post with his sister.
“We were deeply saddened not to be able to perform for you at Koerner Hall last night. We had severe misfortune with the flights and tried our very best to reach you,” the musicians wrote.
“First we had delays, then a cancellation, and the day concluded by being denied boarding with the cello — despite having a confirmed seat for it — on a new, final flight into Toronto. After nine anxious hours at the airport, we realized our journey wasn’t going to be possible.”
The pair tagged and mentioned Air Canada at the bottom of their post, adding that they “can only dream of a time when all airlines have a standardized, global and carefully considered approach to the carriage of precious instruments that are booked to travel in the cabin.” They added that they will be rescheduling their Toronto concert in the new year.
According to Sheku’s website, he plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from the year 1700. The instrument is on indefinite loan to him.
Air Canada responds
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In a statement to Daily Hive, Air Canada said it regrets that the musicians were not able to travel “as expected and will be in contact with them.”
The airline added that it has a “comprehensive” policy of accepting cellos in the cabin when a separate seat is booked for it in the cabin.
“In this case, the customers made a last-minute booking due to their original flight on another airline being cancelled,” said the carrier. “We are still reviewing what happened including why the cello was not successfully rebooked.”
Air Canada’s website says that extra seats can be purchased for musical instruments not exceeding 162.5 cm (64 inches) in height/length or 36 kg (80 pounds) in weight.
This isn’t the first time musicians have spoken out about their experience with Air Canada.
In June, Rum Ragged, a Canadian folk music group from Newfoundland and Labrador, called out the airline for the “brutal handling” of their instruments.
Daily Hive has reached out to Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s management for further comment about the incident. We will update this story when we hear back.