Photo: AlaskaAir.com
This past September, three-time longboard world champion Joel Tudor had an axe to grind with Hawaiian-Alaska Airlines and their policy regarding longboards. After decades of traveling with boards, he ran into a snag when his equipment was rejected due to a board bag going over the airline’s new size limit requirements.
“I’ve never in my life had a problem taking longboards (to Hawaii),” the San Diego native said in a post that’s since been deleted. After explaining the debacle at check-in and the lack of help he was given to trouble-shoot the problem, Tudor concluded with a warning: don’t fly Hawaiian or Alaska Airlines. “Make it make sense,” he said about the updated policy, which limited board bags to 9’6″, even though the airline sponsors longboard events in Hawaii and makes a point to advertise to longboarders, as he pointed out.
The airline is now adjusting its policy, according to a November 3 announcement. The company even patted itself on the back, declaring theirs “the most generous among premium U.S. airlines.”
“Our new surfboard policy – the most generous among premium U.S. airlines – allows guests flying on Alaska and Hawaiian aircraft to check multiple surfboards in a single bag measuring up to 10 feet, 5 inches (from nose to tail), and 50 pounds. For flights operated on our regional E175 aircraft, surfboard bags must not exceed nine feet, 7 inches,” wrote the airline. “We developed our new policy to accommodate all surfers: thrill-seekers tracking large seasonal surf and bringing big surfboards on strike missions to places like Tahiti and Mexico, families looking for year-round warm water and gentle waves to longboard (Costa Rica, anyone?), or guests venturing into the far reaches of our network to explore coastlines in Australia, American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Japan and New Zealand.”
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