John Prine's Son Laments On How American Airlines Protocol Damaged His Dad’s Guitar

Music artists or even anyone who has tried to fly with a musical instrument would testify to the strictness of how airlines never make it as easy as it should be.

The item isn't spared no matter how fragile or expensive it could be, and most times, it isn't handled with care. The son of late John Prine, Tommy Prine, wasn't spared from this painful experience.

He claims he was compelled to check one of his father's guitars at the border, and it was ruined when he returned home to Nashville. In his words, he lamented, "Right here, there's a pretty significant crack."

He insisted the American Airlines damaged the guitar given to him by his father after he was forced to give it up for checking. This was a painful experience, as he lost his father the previous year to the deadly COVID-19 virus outbreak.

In his interview with Nashville's WSMV, Prine narrated that he and his fiancee were on their way to Ireland to celebrate his birthday and the memorial of his late father.

He decided to carry one of his dad's guitars with him on his way home because there were many of them in their family house in the country.

After he stopped by at Philadelphia, Prine said that an American Airlines staffer told him he needed to check the guitar at the gate on the way home. He knew it wasn't safe for an instrument that fragile to go through the process in a travel bag, especially since it meant so much to him. He reiterated that the fact they asked him to do that made him feel very uneasy.

As a result, he voiced his concerns to the agent but was told he strictly needed to follow protocol. After the painful banter, he was furious with what he saw when he got home.

It's no shock that social media has become one of the largest platforms for people to express themselves. Many issues like this have been resolved because of social media attention.

Prine recalled that there were no issues in his flight from Dublin to America. When he got home after the incident, he opened up the travel bag where the guitar was kept and found a massive crack on its bottom half.

He took his rage to Twitter. He shared a pic of the instrument and tagged the team. He wrote, "@AmericanAir broke my guitar after forcing me to check it at the gate… I took it home only to find this."

Prine also grieved that when he contacted them for damages, they refused to take responsibility for it. So he took his claim to social media and shared photos to raise awareness about the situation.

It's almost like at least one of the children of musical legends follows the path of their parents. Prine, son of late John Prine, was the child who took that title.

At the age of ten, he took up a guitar and began playing melodies. Even though he has developed his distinct voice over the years, he studied from one of the best—his father, the late iconic multi-Grammy award-winning musician.

When he was asked why he was so furious about the guitar incident, he explained, "Because I know this isn't a unique incident." He revealed that he was sure that wasn't the first time an incident like that would happen on an airline. He then noted that instruments are significant symbols of people's livelihoods.

An issue like that could cause a significant setback and could end a thriving career. So he deemed it fit to use his influence to bring awareness to it.

Big Prine was one of America's greatest songwriters before his demise. For five active decades, he wrote rich, plain-spoken songs about regular working people's challenges and stories, forever changing the face of modern American music.

He also wrote many classics that covered the full spectrum of human experience, with songs like "Hello In There," which spoke about the lonely life of an elderly couple.

He was also a multi-award Grammy winner for his reputable works before he died.

Prine, who left an incredible body of folk-country classics, was admitted to the hospital after developing COVID-19 symptoms and spent 13 days in intensive care.

At the age of 73, he died on a Tuesday after developing serious COVID-19 complications at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Fans now look up to his children to continue to carry his legacy.