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Last updated at 12:17 PM on 9th September 2010
A leading budget airline may have unfairly charged thousands of passengers because its measuring devices for hand luggage were too small.
Customers of bmibaby were routinely asked at departure gates to put their hand luggage in a metal cage to ensure it met size restrictions.
Many failed the test and had to put the bags into the hold at a cost of £60 for a return flight.
But it has now emerged that many of these gauges were smaller than the dimensions stated on the airline’s website and gauges next to check-in on the main airport concourse.
As a result, thousands of travellers may have been mistakenly charged the fees over the past three years.
The airline has admitted the problem and will change all 60 of the under-sized gauges at the 30 airports it operates from, including East Midlands, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
The issue has raised questions over the accuracy of gauges and weighing scales used by other airlines.
Most airlines pay check-in staff a bonus linked to the value of the excess baggage fees they collect. Confusingly for passengers, different airlines operate different policies on the size of hand luggage they will allow.
The problem at bmibaby was identified by a businessman who was angry at being hit with a charge of £30 each way on a return flight from East Midlands airport to Amsterdam earlier this year.
Kiran Somaiya said: ‘I was told to measure my small suitcase and I was told to put it into the cage to see if it fit.
‘I tried to pop it into the cage that they had there at East Midlands airport, and it simply didn’t fit in. It was just too big and too wide for it to slot into the cage.’
The 29-year-old from Leicester had no option but to pay for his bag to go in the hold, but when he arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport he tried putting it into one of the airline’s gauges in the arrivals hall.
‘It fitted in with loads of room to spare ... and that really got me angry,’ he said.
It later emerged that the gauges at the departure gates are of a different design to those on the main airport concourse, meaning bags which are close to the maximum size – 55cm x 40m x 20cm – do not fit in them.
The problem is highlighted on the programme Watchdog on BBC1 tonight. Researchers from the show had a box made up that exactly met the maximum dimensions, but were told it would have to go in the hold for £30 fee each way.
It is believed bmibaby knew about the problem with its gauges for some time.
A company insider told the programme: ‘I think all staff were aware that they were too small.
‘Everyone was gossiping, someone got a physical measuring tape and found it was too small. We spoke to our line managers, and they were aware and passed it on higher.’
Travel industry expert Rochelle Turner, the head of research for Which? Holiday, said: ‘If airlines choose to charge passengers who exceed baggage allowances, they have an obligation to make sure their scales and gauges are accurate.’
She said the company should compensate wronged customers, saying: ‘We hope that those who have already been incorrectly charged are refunded, and promptly.’
Bmibaby said the difficulty resulted from a design flaw with the gauges. However, it insisted that very few customers have complained.
A spokesman said: ‘The gauge curves slightly at the top which impacts marginally at the corners on the 20cm and 55cm dimension points – meaning that a hardcornered box of exactly 55cm length and 20cm depth would not fit between the curves.'
Bmibaby is now looking to replace all its gauges with a version that removes this anomaly, by increasing the size of the gauges to compensate for this problem.
Bmibaby is looking to replace approximately 60 gauges that are affected by the curved corner anomaly.’
The airline admitted its staff do earn commission from excess-baggage charges made at airport check-in, however, it said this did not apply to charges linked to over-size hand luggage.
The airline refused to reveal how much it has made from the unfair charges, saying: ‘Bmibaby does not disclose information of a commercial nature to external parties.’
Three of the other major budget airlines, Ryanair, easyJet and Flybe, insisted their own hand luggage size gauges are accurate.
Last updated at 12:17 PM on 9th September 2010
A leading budget airline may have unfairly charged thousands of passengers because its measuring devices for hand luggage were too small.
Customers of bmibaby were routinely asked at departure gates to put their hand luggage in a metal cage to ensure it met size restrictions.
Many failed the test and had to put the bags into the hold at a cost of £60 for a return flight.
But it has now emerged that many of these gauges were smaller than the dimensions stated on the airline’s website and gauges next to check-in on the main airport concourse.
As a result, thousands of travellers may have been mistakenly charged the fees over the past three years.
The airline has admitted the problem and will change all 60 of the under-sized gauges at the 30 airports it operates from, including East Midlands, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
The issue has raised questions over the accuracy of gauges and weighing scales used by other airlines.
Most airlines pay check-in staff a bonus linked to the value of the excess baggage fees they collect. Confusingly for passengers, different airlines operate different policies on the size of hand luggage they will allow.
The problem at bmibaby was identified by a businessman who was angry at being hit with a charge of £30 each way on a return flight from East Midlands airport to Amsterdam earlier this year.
Kiran Somaiya said: ‘I was told to measure my small suitcase and I was told to put it into the cage to see if it fit.
‘I tried to pop it into the cage that they had there at East Midlands airport, and it simply didn’t fit in. It was just too big and too wide for it to slot into the cage.’
The 29-year-old from Leicester had no option but to pay for his bag to go in the hold, but when he arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport he tried putting it into one of the airline’s gauges in the arrivals hall.
‘It fitted in with loads of room to spare ... and that really got me angry,’ he said.
It later emerged that the gauges at the departure gates are of a different design to those on the main airport concourse, meaning bags which are close to the maximum size – 55cm x 40m x 20cm – do not fit in them.
The problem is highlighted on the programme Watchdog on BBC1 tonight. Researchers from the show had a box made up that exactly met the maximum dimensions, but were told it would have to go in the hold for £30 fee each way.
It is believed bmibaby knew about the problem with its gauges for some time.
A company insider told the programme: ‘I think all staff were aware that they were too small.
‘Everyone was gossiping, someone got a physical measuring tape and found it was too small. We spoke to our line managers, and they were aware and passed it on higher.’
Travel industry expert Rochelle Turner, the head of research for Which? Holiday, said: ‘If airlines choose to charge passengers who exceed baggage allowances, they have an obligation to make sure their scales and gauges are accurate.’
She said the company should compensate wronged customers, saying: ‘We hope that those who have already been incorrectly charged are refunded, and promptly.’
Bmibaby said the difficulty resulted from a design flaw with the gauges. However, it insisted that very few customers have complained.
A spokesman said: ‘The gauge curves slightly at the top which impacts marginally at the corners on the 20cm and 55cm dimension points – meaning that a hardcornered box of exactly 55cm length and 20cm depth would not fit between the curves.'
Bmibaby is now looking to replace all its gauges with a version that removes this anomaly, by increasing the size of the gauges to compensate for this problem.
Bmibaby is looking to replace approximately 60 gauges that are affected by the curved corner anomaly.’
The airline admitted its staff do earn commission from excess-baggage charges made at airport check-in, however, it said this did not apply to charges linked to over-size hand luggage.
The airline refused to reveal how much it has made from the unfair charges, saying: ‘Bmibaby does not disclose information of a commercial nature to external parties.’
Three of the other major budget airlines, Ryanair, easyJet and Flybe, insisted their own hand luggage size gauges are accurate.
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