My kid had travelled with a cello with no issues. We never call the airline but just book two tickets (always a window seat for the instrument). We only book on airlines that have a stated policy of allowing us to buy an extra seat. We never arrive early. Sometimes my kid has gotten to board first but mostly not. It hasn’t been a problem.
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I can see how this would work in the US. We flew for some auditions this year and besides asking for a seatbelt extender, it was nothing out of the ordinary. With the requirement for the net with Air Canada, you wouldn’t be able to board with the cello unless they had the crew available to install the net.
When I read here about the Air Canada cello net, I thought “why couldn’t the passenger install their own net? Presumably it just hooks on like a seatbelt extender?”
Then I saw the pictures in this article and I understood why you can’t do it yourself 
Air Canada’s cello netting system | News | The Strad
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17 year old son flew to Wilmington, NC for Vivace Festival this morning (first flight with his cello) on JetBlue and thankfully had zero issues (also booking was simple as they have a drop down spot on additional ticket to say it’s a cello). He’s 6’2” so appreciated that I booked him and cello in the extra leg room area to secure priority boarding - the extra space was a bonus.