Airport gate staff paid bonuses for spotting easyJet oversized bags
Airport workers employed on behalf of easyJet are quietly being paid bonuses to stop passengers with suspected oversized baggage.
A leaked email shows gate staff at contractor Swissport are ‘eligible to receive £1.20 for every gate bag taken.’
The email was addressed to staff at sevenUK airports including Birmingham, Glasgow and Newcastle.
It is called the ‘easyJet gate bag revenue incentive,’
A former Swissport passenger service manager, said: “Confronting people with excess baggage is like taking on fare dodgers. You risk abuse or worse.”
EasyJet allows a small bag for free and larger ones for an additional fee, starting from £5.99
Oversized cabin bags seized at the gate are put in the hold at a cost of £48.
The email was sent out in November 2023 but the incentive scheme is still operating.
“We serve our airline customers and apply their policies under terms and conditions for managing their operation. We’re highly professional and our focus is on delivering safe and efficient operations,” Swissport said in response.
EasyJet also responded: “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.”
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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