James Moorhouse
A leaked email has reportedly revealed the exact cash bonus airport staff earn for catching out easyJet passengers trying to sneak oversized bags onto the plane.
Although we go on holiday to take a break from work and get some much-needed rest, the experience itself can often be very stressful.
Whether it's making sure you get to the airport on time, having the right colour of bags, or forgetting your young child Kevin at home, many of us don't actually get to relax until we've put our bags in the hotel room and we're by the pool.
Thankfully, some upcoming changes to things like scanners at airports will hopefully make our lives a bit easier in the future, but there will still be plenty to remember before you jet off for some better weather.
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And other than missing your flight, the worst way to start a holiday is probably succumbing to one of the strict rules imposed by budget airlines such as easyJet or Ryanair.
Perhaps the main rule you need to abide by is ensuring you have the right sized bag for the plane, as unless you've paid extra to take a larger bag with you, you'll need to have all your necessities in either a very small suitcase or rucksack, which can be very difficult if you're spending more than a few days abroad.
We will all know someone who has fallen victim to these rules and had to pay the hefty fine, and a leaked email has just suggested that the particularly annoying punishment might be even worse than we first thought.
Back in November 2023, a revealing email was reportedly sent to employees of Swissport, one of the companies which has a contract to run passenger airport gates on behalf of easyJet.
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The email suggested passengers might find themselves a few quid worse off if they don't stick to the strict baggage guidelines.
Described as 'the easyJet gate bag revenue incentive', the message seen by the Sunday Times says the scheme is 'intended to reward agents doing the right thing', before going on to thanks staff for their 'ongoing contribution to the success of easyJet'.
It confirmed that staff would take home £1.20 (£1 after tax) for every 'gate bag' found too large to bring onboard, which means that the staff are actively on the lookout for any bags that might be judged to be a few centimetres too big, and are actively profiting from your frustration.
LADbible understands easyJet does not oversee how third party ground handling agents reward employees.
Speaking to LADbible, Swissport said: "We serve our airline customers and apply their policies under terms and conditions for managing their operation.
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"We’re highly professional and our focus is on delivering safe and efficient operations which we do day in and day out for 4 million flights per year."
An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet is focused on ensuring our ground handling partners apply our policies correctly and consistently in fairness to all our customers.
“Our bag policies and options are well understood and we remind customers of this when booking, before they travel and on their boarding pass which means a very small proportion of customers who don’t comply will be charged at the airport.”
It is understood that the policy remains active, which is even more incentive to make 100 percent sure that your bag fits in the holder before you board the flight.