Ryanair staff bonus boost over for charging €75 for oversized baggage

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the airline plans to increase the bonuses given to staff who flag passengers carrying oversized baggage

Ryanair is planning to increase staff bonuses for spotting passengers with oversized baggage.

Michael O’Leary is set to enhance the rewards given to employees who catch travellers with luggage exceeding permitted dimensions. The chief executive disclosed that since news emerged about staff being incentivised to identify rule-breakers, the number of passengers stopped for oversized baggage has actually dropped.

Workers at the budget carrier currently earn €2.50, approximately £2.17, for each oversized bag they flag up. Travellers are then hit with an additional €75 (£65) charge, reports the Mirror, reports the Irish Mirror.

The potential change would see staff receive a €3.50 bonus for each non-compliant bag they spot, according to The Times. This incentive for Ryanair employees was already raised 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 tickets include one small personal bag (40 x 30 x 20 cm) which must fit beneath the seat.

Cabin bags can be purchased and weigh up to 10kg, with the (55x40x20cm) item needing to fit in the overhead locker. When the incentive was last increased, O’Leary revealed that approximately 200,000 passengers annually are compelled to pay additional fees to stow carry-on baggage in the hold, and he has scant sympathy for “chancers” trying to bring “rucksacks” on board.

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 insisted that if travellers “comply with the bag rules then everyone will board faster” and there will be “fewer flight delays”. This announcement follows the Ryanair boss’s calls for airport bars to stop serving alcohol during early morning hours.

The CEO claimed his airline is being forced to divert flights on an almost daily basis due to drunk and aggressive passengers. Airport pubs aren’t bound by the same licensing regulations as establishments situated outside these premises.

Mr O’Leary stated that reforming these rules would benefit his airline and others by helping to curb unruly behaviour in the skies.

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