Ryanair’s hand luggage policy is crystalline: they want you to pay for him. The company is making all possible efforts so that either trips without a suitcase or, on the contrary, you pay for it before entering the plane.
And he has had an idea: bonus his best employees.
“We will catch you” This is how Michael O’Leary, CEO of the company, its intentions regarding hand luggage has summarized. Words have collected them BBC and in them he directly points to the client whom he accuses of “not complying with the rules.” Therefore, it launches a message if you are thinking that you can climb to one of its planes without paying the extra for the hand suitcase: “We will catch you and hope to reward and bonate our staff to choose those large bags.”
More money. A few weeks ago We knew that Ryanair rewards employees that discover the largest number of travelers who try to climb their aircraft with too large hand suitcases. The company has been rewarding 1.5 euros for each “captured” suitcase. The maximum bonus that a worker could receive was 80 euros.
Now, that will change. The company will continue to press. According to the British media and as confirmed to us to Xataka The company itself, Ryanair will raise the prize to 2.5 euros per suitcase. But, in addition, it removes the top of the 80 euros that the wage earning could receive.
“Large”. What O’Leary refers to “those large bags” is a suitcase with which you can travel in cabin with many other companies. However, Ryanair prevents the plane from traveling to those who travel with a bag that exceeds 40 x 30 x 20 cm, since the company has slightly expanded the allowed measures.
This size barely leaves space for a small backpack. In fact, they are so meager that they have ended create your own market niche. In the event that you want to travel with a “cabin” suitcase, you have to go through the box. The ideal is to do it hiring the supplement When taking out the ticket because, of not doing so, The surcharge at the counter is 55 euros.
“Without a suitcase”. Ryanair CEO has defended on several occasions that its great goal is that passengers move “without a suitcase”. It ensures that all weight added to the plane implies greater fuel consumption and, therefore, that the expense in it does not compensate for the transfer of suitcases. In fact, he said that “I don’t want the money” of those billing.
We explained in Xataka That, despite O’Leary’s word, the truth is that the suitcase is still fundamental in the company’s income. Ryanair is not explained without all expenses associated with the ticket price. The company catches you with a very small price that you will only pay in very specific situations. It travels cheaper than with other companies but, when you add expenses, it is not much cheaper than in other similar flights.
A constant fight. The luggage soap opera is being especially relevant in Spain. Last year, the Ministry of Consumer It imposed a historical fine to Ryanair of more than 100 million euros. Along the way, Other companies also received sanctions Low Cost like Vueling or Easyjet, among others.
That decision was a bomb in the Spain-Ryanair relationship. Since then, and with Aena’s rates as another reason to define its strategy, The company has taken up to 800,000 squares of regional airports, leaving seriously injured to aerodromes Like Valladolid’s. Now, Keep threatening with taking out another million places from similar size cities.
Is it legal? There are two scenarios that we must contemplate.
Spain. If we talk about our country, the truth is that justice has proved both Ryanair and employees who have denounced these practices.
In the first case, some magistrates defend that the company does not have defined the minimum measures it has to offer and that, as the client accepts conditions with the purchase of the ticket, are obliged to comply or accept surcharges.
The magistrates who defend the position of consumers point out that the regulations speak of “essential luggage.” That same position is what the government wields to fine the company. In this case, it is assured that in the measures proposed by Europe There is no place for that “essential” In hand luggage and, therefore, the company is breaking.
Europe. At the moment, the position of European justice is about to be resolved. The company’s CEO said just a few days ago in which they were optimistic about the possible fine that could fall from Spain.
It is based, perhaps, on the Last movements that have been registered from Europe. The institutions seek a new passenger regulation and it begins to be intuit that finally We will have minimal measures For hand luggage for all companies. But, yes, These measures are very aligned with those offered by Ryanair.
It is no accident That the company has chosen this summer, when the European process is underway, the change in its hand luggage policy. The movement reads as a wink to regulators.
Photo | Giorgios Savidis and Benjamin Elliott
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