Photo Courtesy of: New World Case, Inc.

Many jobs require a lot of travel. This can often times be stressful if your job requires you to bring a lot of sensitive equipment. Photographers and scientists for example, have many delicate instruments that need to be handled with extreme care. The problem is, when traveling around the world or across the country for a shoot or a conference, how can these be certain? It is hard to know who will be putting your bags in the plane, if they will be set gently or thrown in, or if they may end up bouncing around during the flight. This is where ATA cases can come in.

ATA cases are Air Transport Association approved cases. In other words, the association has deemed them suitable for being shipped by airlines. ATA cases can be used to carry a wide range of equipment which can be of different sizes, weights and accessibility. For this reason there are many options available, and in addition, many manufacturers will have custom options available as well. The products can be designed for specific items and then created within the ATA terms. These cases must be made from plastic laminate, fiberglass or aluminum. Other specifications include the inner walls and partitions must have multi-layer wood lining, the steel rivets, the foam used within, etc. The entire case is strictly assembled to provide the best option possible for the consumer.

When purchasing these cases, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. ATA cases can come in different levels. For example, some bags will be certified for up to ten trips, while others can be good for 100 plus trips. In addition, many companies will sell ATA “style” cases. What this means, is while they are modeled after ATA guidelines, they do not completely conform to them. In other words, they are not as safe as ATA certified cases, so the user should be careful.