Airline passenger news and views

The bmibaby carry-on luggage scandal illustrates just how easily things can go wrong and particularly how suspicion of foul-play mounts when staff appear to earn bonuses from imposed charges.

The basis of the bmi case is that carry-on luggage has to fit properly in the overhead containers or under the seat in front of you.  To ensure compliance, they measure the item at checkin and, if it is too big, make you stow it and pay the fee for doing so. So far, so good.

The trouble comes when some passengers, having passed the first test, then stuff other items into the bag and arrive at the gate with a bag that is over-sized. Quite reasonably, bmi make a final check before boarding and, if a over-stuffed bag has to be sent to the hold at this stage, they may make an extra handling charge. 

It seems that, due to an administrative error, the measuring devices at the gate were smaller than the ones used at checkin. A passenger could pass the first test and then, without adding anything to the bag, fail the second test and incur the penalty.

Of course, it is suspicious that the mistake occurred in the first place. It is more worrying that the mistake has continued uncorrected for a considerable time, but the real concern is that the longer it went on, the more the company and the staff earned from these fees.

As an airline that must to some extent rely on trust, bmibaby has a real problem here and they have to do something to remedy the issue. They surely cannot keep the money that has been mistakenly collected.