Euro budget airline Ryanair pays staffers a bounty to catch oversized bags. It’s thinking about boosting the payout.
Staffers can earn small bonuses for each piece of oversized luggage they catch.
Irish airline Ryanair has been an innovator in the ultra low-cost flying space, popularizing baggage fees in the early 2000s and even incentivizing staff with bonuses for catching oversized luggage.
In an interview with RTE, the airline said it’s now thinking of increasing that bounty. With bag fees now covering the entire US market, it’s not crazy to think similar bonus structures could some day make their way to US gates.
“We are happy to incentivize our [staff] with a share of those excess baggage fees,” CEO Michael O’Leary said, referring to the luggage bonus. “It is about €1.50 ($1.75) per bag — and we’re thinking of increasing it.”
According to reports, the staff bounty caps at the equivalent of roughly $93 per month, while passengers are charged a penalty up to roughly $90 for attempting to board with an oversized bag.
The low-budget model is working out for Ryanair, which raised its average fares 21% on the quarter. The carrier’s profit more than doubled to about $960 million. Ryanair’s US ADRs climbed 5% on Monday afternoon, and they have risen more than 50% over the past 12 months.
