RYANAIR CEO MICHAEL O’Leary has confirmed that staff at the airline are paid commission on each bag they charge the oversized fee on and that this commission may increase. 

The standard fee is usually between €70 and €75. Ryanair says that it charges a fee of €13 per kilo on excess baggage, including checked baggage.

The Sunday Times reported over the weekend about the staff commission and said that the commission is capped at about €80 per staff member each month.

Speaking this morning on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Leary said that Ryanair staff are paid €1.50 per bag to catch oversize bags and that “we’re thinking of increasing it” to eliminate what he called  the “scourge” of passengers arriving with oversized bags. 

“One of the things that irritates our passengers most is the one or two people who show up with a rucksack, claiming that it fits in the sizer. If it doesn’t fit in the sizer, it’s not getting on,” O’Leary said. 

He said that the airline’s passengers will be paying excess baggage fees if they don’t comply with the size and weight restrictions, and that Ryanair “is happy” to incentivise its staff with a share of the fees.

“On our aircraft, we’re flying largely full flights, about half the passengers can bring two bags, or the other half can only bring one bag, because that’s all that fits in the plane,” he said.

“In fact, we’re already struggling with that amount of baggage, and that’s one of the reasons we are so aggressive about eliminating the scourge of passengers with excess baggage.

Asked about proposed EU rules that would allow passengers on flights to bring a 7kg bag and small personal bag free of charge, O’Leary cast doubt on whether the regulations would pass into law.

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The airline today announced its net profit more than doubled in its first quarter thanks to higher air fares.

Profit after tax soared to €820m in the three months to the end of June from €360m in the same period a year earlier. Passenger traffic rose four% to almost 58 million and average air fares increased by 21%.

Revenue grew 20% to €4.34 billion.

O’Leary noted that passenger growth will be constrained over the full year due to “heavily delayed Boeing deliveries.”.

Ryanair “cautiously expects to recover almost all of last year’s seven percent full-year fare decline, which should lead to reasonable net profit growth” in the full year, he added.

However, he warned that the outlook remains “heavily exposed” to risks including tariff wars, macroeconomic shocks and conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.