On a related topic:

Ryanair 'bullies' staff who let flyers share bag limit
By Barrie Clement
12 December 2005
The Independent
(c) 2005 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, distributed or exploited in any way.
'Other airlines allow staff to use their discretion with excess baggage'

Check-in staff working for Ryanair have been 'bullied' and threatened with the sack by their employers Servisair/GlobeGround for helping passengers avoid paying for excess baggage.

Airport workers caught allowing customers to 'share' the weight of their luggage with fellow passengers " thus keeping it below the limit " have been disciplined and issued with warnings that they face dismissal for using their 'discretion'.

Recently the low-cost airline increased its levy on overweight luggage from £4.50 to £5.50 " a jump of 22 per cent. Ryanair is being accused of levying what amounts to a 'stealth tax' on travellers. Staff at Manchester airport have been told they will be carpeted by management unless they meet an average target of EUR1 (67p) per passenger, although the target applies to Ryanair flights from all airports, said the union.

Check-in staff said the airline allows those who book as groups to 'share' their baggage, but individuals are not allowed the same concession. One union member at Manchester argued Ryanair did not 'go out of its way' to publicise the fact.

Passengers are allowed 10kg hand luggage and 15kg for baggage in the hold. If either is overweight they are charged excess. They are not allowed to add them together. Kevin Egan, regional officer of Amicus, has called for a meeting with Ryanair and Servisair/ GlobeGround, which employs the check-in staff.

He said: 'We are appalled at what's been going on. Basically Ryanair is bullying the check-in contractor, which in turn bullies its employees. Other airlines allow staff to use their discretion when it comes to excess baggage, but 'discretion' is clearly not a word Ryanair understands.' One union member at Manchester said: 'Ryanair makes a lot of money out of excess baggage payments. They are levying what amounts to a stealth tax on unsuspecting passengers. The airline handles more than 30 million passengers a year, that means EUR30m " or £20m. Other companies such as Aer Lingus and Lufthansa allow a certain amount of discretion on this.'

A Ryanair spokesman said the rules on baggage are made clear. He said the dispute with workers at Manchester airport was a matter for their employer, Servisair/GlobeGround.

A spokesman for Servisair/Globeground said: 'It is common practice with the majority of airlines to impose a baggage maximum weight limit and Servisair/Globeground, as handling agent, has to ensure that it conforms with all customer airline requirements.'

And I am relatively in favour of this, to be honest. I rarely take hold baggage on short haul flights so - on a low cost airline - why should I subsidise the rest? On BA it is a different story, since you have, by default, chosen a 'full service' airline and if I choose not to utilise part of that service then that is down to me.

More FR news:

Ryanair to save £20m with internet check in
By Julia Kollewe
9 December 2005
The Independent
(c) 2005 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, distributed or exploited in any way.
Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, will allow passengers to check in on the internet next year to encourage them to travel light, estimating the move could save it up to EUR30m (£20m) a year.

Ryanair plans to trial a web check-in, allowing passengers to bypass long queues at the airport, in January on three routes, the Dublin-Cork route, an Irish-UK route and another European route. During the trials, which are expected to run for five to six weeks, the airline will assess whether the system works and is secure. If successful, the web check-in will be rolled out across other routes from next summer.

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive, said: 'Part of our long-term aim is to get 80 per cent of passengers to fly without checked-in luggage. That would be a big cost saving for us.'

He said it would shave up to 3 per cent off Ryanair's annual cost base of EUR1bn, generating savings of EUR25m to EUR30m, by cutting the number of baggage handling staff by half and check-in staff and desks by a quarter. At the moment, half of its passengers do not check in any luggage.

Mr O'Leary reckons the majority of passengers do not need to carry any more than hand luggage on short-haul flights, with the exception of families.