Violins and terrorists

The recent terrorism scare in London has caused several orchestras to postpone or cancel tours abroad, I'm reading in my arts Web sites this morning. That was actually one of the first things I thought of, at the news of new restrictions for passengers regarding carry-on bags.

How will the new rules affect orchestras, traveling with multi-million dollar violins, violas, clarinets and flutes? In the past, musicians have been loathe to check their rare, often irreplaceable instruments in the cargo hold, for fear they would be toothpicks when they arrived at Baggage Claim.

Here's one of the stories coming out of the UK today, courtesy of the BBC.

This week, Musicians magazine, the magazine of the American Federation of Musicians (union) called for all musicians to boycott Delta Airlines, because of Delta's poor record when it comes to allowing musicians to bring their musical instruments on board.

But the Delta situation pales with everything that's happening now. I'm wondering if orchestras will be forced to ship all their instruments ahead by truck or slow boat to China... How will it affect the Cincinnati Symphony's spring tour to the West Coast?