Toddler haircut meltdown

My two and a half year old has had only a handful of barber visits. Each visit is absolute torture, he doesn’t just cry, he screams and falls to the floor, trying to get away and creating the biggest scene ever. My husband dreads taking him every time because it’s a nightmare. He took him today and told me our son was screaming and crying so much that random passerbyers came by to see what the commotion was. The barber was also really frustrated. I feel so bad but I can’t just let him grow out his hair because that’s a whole other issue of detangling and maintaining. Any other parent experienced this? I’m not talking a cry, I mean a full blown meltdown. Any advice is much appreciated!