My cheap Yamaha was broken throught the case by Cathay Pacific. A guitar making friend said replacement was more cost effective for them than fixing it, as the back was crushed.

The issue is still being resolved, but the person they put me through to in Brisbane to arrange the fixing showed me that the conditions on my ticket were that they had only a liability to fix or replace it to a maximum of "20 US Dollars per kilo of weight" !!! I think they are gonna fix/or replace it but the point is - if it was a $2000 guitar, they are in their rights not to, it seemed.

Now for a Yamaha that's not the end of the world, but anything else - don;t let it out of your sight! On the same flight, another blokes guitar in a super case was damaged too. THey must have had some music hating handler on that flight!