Unlucky lute damaged by Air Canada

A New Brunswick music professor's days of travelling the globe and playing his lute may have come to abrupt end after its instrument was snapped in half by Air Canada.

Michel Cardin, a music professor at the University of Moncton, said he is wondering whether he'll be able to play his lute again after Air Canada broke his instrument on a recent trip.

When he opened up the case after returning to Moncton, the lute was snapped in two.

'It's as if the doctor told you [that] you can't speak anymore for the rest of your life.' — Michel Cardin, music professor

"It was just like impossible to speak. It was a shock and I was depressed for at least a week," Cardin said.

Cardin said the lute, which is a replica of an 18th century lute, is priceless to him. He said it's the instrument's sound that has led to his international career.

The lute is a stringed instrument with a deep, round back.

Cardin said he had a solid case that was supposed to protect the instrument, but it couldn't withstand the baggage handlers at Air Canada.

"I don't know if you can imagine when you have an instrument like that and it represents all your life and it's your way of expression," he said.

"It's as if the doctor told you [that] you can't speak anymore for the rest of your life."

The music professor said he is speaking out because of concerns that more musicians are seeing their instruments damaged by airlines.

The Halifax band Sons of Maxwell famously fought United Airlines over a broken guitar with a hit video that was posted on YouTube.

The band wrote a song about seeing the band's guitars deliberately damaged by baggage handlers outside the plane window.

Montreal repairs

Air Canada has contacted Cardin to apologize for the instrument's handling and has pledged to help him with some repairs.

Cardin has brought his prized instrument to a Montreal-based shop in hopes that an expert in repairing lutes can help him.

"He told me, 'Well, you know I think it's possible to repair it and it might be OK,'" Cardin said.

Cardin will have to wait several weeks before he can test his instrument and said he wants airlines to be more careful with delicate items.

He said he doesn't want other musicians to suffer a similar fate as he and his lute.

"I thought that when the instrument is broken like that even if you can reglue it and make it OK for playing, I thought the sound would have lost its soul," he said.