American Airlines Forced Woman To Check Her Sewing Machine, Then Butchered it

79-year-old Joyce Rowland knew it was not a good idea when American Airlines grabbed her sewing machine at the gate, but when she pushed back, she was overruled. Not surprisingly, when she landed four hours later she found her beloved machine severely damaged.

Rowland was not an ignorant traveler. The Chicago resident is an avid sewer and when she traveled to Los Angeles last December for a one-month trip to be with her family on the West Coast, she took her sewing machine along. Her plan was to create Christmas gifts and continue her daily sewing while in California. This wasn’t her first rodeo.

Her sewing machine can be packed up into a traveling case, which is carry-on sized. Rowland required a wheelchair at Chicago O’Hare and was wheeled up to the gate of her flight, carrying the sewing machine in her hand.

But the gate agent literally snatched it from her hand, telling her it was too big to be a carry-on item and that it would get damaged onboard (talk about irony). Before Rowland could even question it, the sewing machine was already tagged and taken away.

When she reached LAX baggage claim, her worst fears were confirmed: her sewing machine was butchered. It had been bounced around in the cargo hold and was damaged. To rub salt in the wound, when she returned to Chicago a month later she had no trouble taking the sewing machine onboard as her carry-on.

Back at home, she took her machine in to be repaired: it cost her $989.22. She submitted the receipt to American Airlines, hoping for a refund, but heard nothing at all. After a few months, she reached out to the local NBC affiliate in Chicago and told her story. When it reached out to AA, the airline finally responded and compensated Rowland for the repairs to her machine.

I’m glad this story has a (somewhat) happy ending, but it was such a needless repair in the first place. How sad that the American Airlines gate agent in Chicago did not use a little common sense before forcing Rowland to check her sewing machine.

Rowland told NBC 5 that the lesson she learned was, “I would tell people not to bring their sewing machines.” While that is reasonable, my takeaway is different. Instead, you have to “stand your ground” and insist that a fragile device like a sewing machine (or a musical instrument) is not taken from you. It would have been much safer in the cabin and the TSA allows sewing machines as carry-on items. Assuming it fits in the overhead bin or closet, you must insist that it be allowed onboard or be willing to walk away from the flight.

I think it’s totally reasonable for a traveler to take their sewing machine along on a month-long trip if that is their hobby or source of enjoyment.

When American Airlines forced a senior citizen to check her sewing machine, she knew it would be damaged. And it did. AA has now paid nearly $1,000 for the repair, but it was such a needless error in the first place. If you are traveling with something valuable like that, you better be prepared to step off that flight if you are forced to check your valuable carry-on. That certainly beats dealing with a broken sewing machine or musical instrument.