Canadian Musician Releases Protest Song About Uzbek Student’s Experience with Wizz Air
Canadian singer-songwriter Dave Carroll, best known for his 2009 viral hit “United Breaks Guitars,” has released a new protest song titled “Don’t Fly Wizness Class,” inspired by the travel ordeal of Uzbek student Suhrob Ubaydullayev. The track and accompanying video, featuring Ubaydullayev himself, highlight his experience with Wizz Air in 2023 and raise broader concerns about discrimination and passenger rights. Carroll first gained international attention after United Airlines damaged his $3,500 Taylor guitar during a 2008 flight and refused to compensate him. In response, he released “United Breaks Guitars,” which amassed over 20 million views on YouTube and reportedly caused a $180 million drop in United’s stock value. The episode sparked industry-wide changes in customer service protocols. More than a decade later, Carroll has turned his attention to another case of alleged mistreatment, this time involving a 24-year-old Uzbek national. His latest song recounts how Ubaydullayev was denied boarding on a Wizz Air flight on August 31, 2023. “I had all my documents in order,” Ubaydullayev previously told The Times of Central Asia. “The staff checked them and returned them to me, but when I reached the gate, they suddenly said I couldn’t fly. No reason. No explanation.” According to Ubaydullayev, one airline employee asked, “Are you from Uzbekistan?” Upon confirming he was, he says he was denied boarding without further justification. What followed, he claims, was a humiliating ordeal: threats to call the police, warnings that the Uzbek embassy could not assist him, and refusal to provide any written explanation. Ubaydullayev had just completed a Work and Travel program in Europe and was returning home. After spending his savings on the now-cancelled flight, he borrowed money to reach Istanbul, where he was robbed and left stranded. “I met some Uzbek guys near the Sultan Ahmed Mosque who offered to help,” he said. “But they ended up taking my money and disappearing.” His journey home eventually took him through Kazan in Russia and Osh in Kyrgyzstan, before he reached the Uzbek city of Namangan, exhausted, indebted, and disillusioned. In May, during a visit to Canada, Ubaydullayev met Carroll in person. “He was kind and respectful,” Ubaydullayev told The Times of Central Asia. “Carroll listened to my story and was deeply moved.” Carroll then turned the young man’s experience into a song, aiming to bring attention to the broader issue of traveler discrimination. “My goal,” Ubaydullayev said, “is to ensure Wizz Air and other airlines stop discriminating against Uzbek citizens and start treating them with respect.”
