Ryanair to increase staff bonus for applying £65 baggage fine on passengers

Ryanair is planning to increase staff bonuses for hitting passengers with oversized baggage fines. Michael O'Leary is set to increase the bonuses given to staff members who dish out additional charges to those with oversized luggage . The chief executive said that after it emerged that his staff were incentivised to catch passengers out the number of travellers stopped with oversized baggage had dropped. The budget airline staff are currently paid €2.50, roughly £2.17, for every oversized bag they identify. Passengers are made to pay an additional €75 (£65). The change could see workers receive a €3.50 bonus for everyone they catch out, according to The Times. This bonus for Ryanair workers was already increased in November 2025 from €1.50. “The number of outsized bags is falling from, I don’t know, 0.0001 [per cent] to 0.00001,” O’Leary said. “As the numbers fall, I think we will up the rate of commission, from €2.50 to €3.50 or so. "Everybody must know, do not show up with a bag that doesn’t fit in the sizer because you will be charged.” All fares include one small personal bag (40 x 30 x 20 cm) that must fit under the seat. Cabin bags can be purchased and weigh up to 10kg, the (55x40x20cm) item must fit in the overhead locker. At the time of the incentive increase last year, O'Leary said about 200,000 passengers per year have to pay extra to put carry-on luggage in the hold, and he has no sympathy for "chancers" trying to bring "rucksacks" aboard. The CEO added: "We're the airline with the lowest air fares in Europe," "Those are our rules. Please comply with the rules, as 99.9% of our 200 million passengers do, and you won't have any problem." He claimed if people "comply with the bag rules then everyone will board faster" and there will be "fewer flight delays". The announcement comes after the Ryanair boss said that airport bars should stop serving alcohol early in the morning. The CEO claimed his airline is being forced to divert flights almost daily because of drunken, aggressive passengers. Pubs in airports do not follow the same licensing rules as bars outside these environments do. Mr O'Leary said that changing this will support his airline and others because it would help cut out aggressive behaviour in the skies.