Upvote:-1
From experience, I can tall you that neither me or any of my friends have ever packed boards, skis or any other gear in hard shell cases. I don't think I've ever even seen one...we'll probably, but so few that they weren't noticeable.
What you will see by far most often is semi-rigid/rigid-back ski/board bags, canvas like material with foam inserts, such as these.
For clarity, I don't recall any one specifically flying AC, but most of the US airlines for sure.
You will probably get a better answer somewhere where there is an AC specific forum, like a place where flyers talk about their airlines and things...