Joel Tudor’s experience underscores what commenters say is a confusing policy.

Three-time longboard surfing world champion Joel Tudor was planning to spend this week in Honolulu, teaching jiu-jitsu and shredding tasty waves in Waikīkī. Instead, Tudor is still home in San Diego. The problem: Hawaiian Airlines wouldn’t carry his 9’6” board on the plane.

“I fly the same two airlines all the time,” said Tudor, who says he’s been flying on Hawaiian for 35 years. “I’ve never had a problem.”

That changed on Monday. When Tudor tried to check his boards in a 10-foot bag, he got what he says was a startling response.

“They denied my boards,” he says.

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Tudor’s story, first published on the Hawaiʻi News Report

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