I agree that RyanAir's current bag policy is stupid. I recently flew them and saw a large majority of customers gate check their bags, as did I, to save the convenience fee. What kind of business spends extra money to create inconvenience for customers for the sole purpose of convincing some of them to pay extra to avoid the inconvenience? (Other than states which convert freeway lanes into toll lanes.) The overhead bins on my flights were more than half empty, illustrating the wastefulness of this policy. Also wasteful is the random seat assignment policy. Travelers were switching seats with each other all over the plane, delaying completion of boarding by at least 2 minutes.

To its credit, RyanAir realized that the current bag policy is stupid. They changed it. Good on them, although I will no longer be able to fly for the ultra-low sticker price as I did this year. When you get a round trip for 43 Euros, that 2-hour middle seat is very comfortable.

Data point: I saw a very relaxed attitude toward cabin baggage size and hand bag size, and no attention to weight for any bags passing through security. I imagine that contract labor performing these functions has no incentive to enforce those rules.