Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the airline is considering increasing a bonus it pays to workers for identifying passengers with oversized bags.
Staff currently receive €1.50 (£1.30) if they intercept customers who are trying to bring bags that are too large on a Ryanair plane.
“We are determined to eliminate the scourge of oversized bags which delay boarding and are clearly unfair on the over 99% of our passengers who comply with our baggage rules,” Ryanair said in a statement.
Mr O’Leary told RTE’s Morning Ireland, “we’re thinking of increasing it [the bonus],” to stop people from bringing oversized bags.
Ryanair said oversized baggage fees are only paid by a small minority of passengers.
“Our message to those 0.1% of passengers is simple; please comply with our generous bag rules or you will be charged at check-in or at the gate,” the airline said.
Mr O’Leary said his airline was already struggling with that amount of baggage taken on planes.
“That’s one of the reasons we are so aggressive about eliminating the scourge of passengers with excess baggage,” he added.
The chief executive said over 99.9% of passengers follow the baggage rules correctly and referred to “sizers” located within the airport that can measure bags.
“We are happy to incentivise our (staff) with a share of those excess baggage fees, which we think will decline over the coming year or two,” he said.
Ryanair passengers can be charged up to £75 for bringing a bag larger than the size they paid for while booking their flight, though the fee depends on the route and travel date.
The airline currently allows a small carry-on bag – with a size capped at 40cm x 20cm x 25cm and weight of 10kg – with every ticket.
However, this is set to increase to 40cm x 30cm x 20cm as a result of minimum standards being brought in by the EU.
Ryanair customers can also pay to take extra luggage on the plane and agree to specific size terms and conditions when they book.
Mr O’Leary’s comments came as Ryanair reported a jump in profits for the April to June period.
It said profits after tax rose to €820m (£710.3m) for the period, up from €360m a year earlier, helped by the timing of Easter and also by a rise in fares.
Mr O’Leary said Ryanair’s summer fares would be the same rate on average as 2023 but added he thought the airline could boost its profitability by “controlling costs”.
