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Dave Carroll Takes His "United Breaks Guitars" Crusade to Washington
9/24/2009 By Jason Schreurs
That "United Breaks Guitars" guy, Dave Carroll, is at it again. This time he's taken his anti-airlines ranting straight to Capital Hill in Washington, DC.
As we told you last month, the jilted Halifax musician refused to let United Airlines off the hook after they broke his guitar. Carroll recently released the song "United Breaks Guitars: Song 2" and is planning a third instalment to be released sometime this fall. The first part of the anti-United trilogy became a viral video sensation, getting over 5.5 million hits on YouTube.
But it wasn't enough for Carroll to give up his fight against the airline giant, so now he recently spoke at a Washington hearing on airline passenger rights on Tuesday (September 22), explaining all about how he saw United Airlines baggage workers chucking and breaking his guitar last year when he was flying out of Halifax with his band, Sons of Maxwell.
Carroll's speech at the hearing was meant to draw attention to passengers thay have special baggage needs. "This is the chance for many victims to speak," Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, told the CBC.
Hanni's group is rallying for special attention for passengers with fragile baggage, such as Carroll's $3,500 guitar, which was smashed. The organization is also in support of U.S. legislation that would allow passengers to deplane after three hours of extended delay.
After the hearing, Carroll told the ChronicleHerald.ca, "They loved it... Everyone in the room had a nice big smile on their face and it was a real light moment after such a long time listening to speeches."
He also said that he hasn't minded all the recent public attention in the least.
"I was reluctant to do it. I was just sort of airing my frustrations at the start of it, my personal story," Carroll said. "But within the first week it became clear to me that I wasn't the only one who was having these problems, but I was one of the few that was able to do something about it. And so I was kind of thrust on a platform of consumer advocate on behalf of people who don't have a voice, for whatever reason, and I am actually happy to do it."
"This has worked out really well for me ,in terms of my career, but there are still lots of people that have these horror stories."
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