EasyJet admits hand luggage sizer at one of UK’s biggest airports was too small

​​​​Holidaymakers transiting through Gatwick airport may have been unfairly charged baggage fees by easyJet.

The airline has strict rules on the size of bags that passengers can take on board. It enforces them by making some passengers measure their bags in specially designed cages and fining anybody whose bag is too big.

But two passengers on their way from Iceland to Greece via Gatwick were shocked to be hit by a £96 fee – £48 each.

It was only after a long fight – including actually losing a claim through easyJet’s adjudicator AviationADR – that they eventually managed to get easyJet to admit that the fee wasn’t justified. Their bags were the right size all along.

A sizing cage at Gatwick Airport, used to measure potentially thousands of passengers’ bags, had either been altered or damaged, making it too small.

We put it to easyJet that, in the worst-case scenario, hundreds if not thousands of passengers could have been hit with unfair fees. However, the airline is adamant that it was just an isolated incident.

easyJet’s unfair baggage fee

When Icelandic national Adalsteinn Svan Hjelm was told by easyJet staff at Gatwick airport that he and his teenage daughter’s bags didn’t fit the sizer, he immediately suspected something was wrong.

He’d read the investigation we published at the end of last year, where we’d discovered that an easyJet passenger, Louise Machin, had been overcharged because of a wrong-sized cage at Chania Airport in Crete.

He told us: ‘Like Louise, I suspected that the baggage sizer itself had been altered. The internal side bulkheads appeared to have been positioned incorrectly, reducing the usable width of the sizer and preventing a compliant bag from fitting correctly.’

He contacted Samsonite – the maker of his bags – which confirmed that they were designed to fit easyJet’s sizers. His bag fitted into the sizer at Athens Airport with no problem.

Adalsteinn’s bag next to the faulty sizer at Gatwick Airport

Adjudicator fails passenger

Staff working for easyJet at Gatwick ignored his protests and insisted on collecting £96. It was revealed last year that easyJet contractors can receive a bonus for every passenger they hit with an oversized luggage fee.

When Adalsteinn made an official complaint to easyJet customer services, it too turned him down. He even escalated his complaint to easyJet’s official adjudication scheme, AviationADR, but it sided with the airline. We contacted AviationADR about this story, but it hasn't yet replied.

Adalsteinn told us: ‘What concerns me most is that neither easyJet nor AviationADR independently inspected or physically measured the baggage sizer. Instead, the decision relied solely on easyJet's assurance that the equipment was correctly configured.’ 

However, he didn’t give up.

Forcing easyJet to fix Gatwick sizer

Adalsteinn sent one final email to members of the airline’s senior leadership team, including photographs that clearly showed the issue with the sizer.

This time he had more luck. A helpful member of easyJet’s staff took his side and ordered an investigation at Gatwick Airport. 

They finally agreed with him that metal bars on one side of the sizer were in the wrong place, meaning bags that should have been compliant would not fit.

Finally, easyJet agreed to refund him the £96 and said that it had fixed the Gatwick sizer. They also told him that it would pass on his concerns about it possibly reflecting a wider problem.

How many passengers have been affected by unfair easyJet fees?

Adalsteinn has accepted the refund offer, but says he’s still concerned about other passengers who have been misled by the dodgy sizers.

He asks: ‘Will easyJet proactively identify and refund affected passengers? Or will compensation only be available to those who spend months pursuing complaints?’

It’s also unclear whether any of the other easyJet sizers around the world have the same issue. The airline told us there’s no possibility that the sizer at Gatwick was deliberately altered.

However, if the sizers can be accidentally altered without easyJet staff noticing, that’s arguably even worse, as there’s a risk many more airports could be affected.

easyJet comment

EasyJet rejected any suggestion that the issues we’ve exposed at Gatwick and Chania airports represent a wider problem.

It told us: ‘We always want to ensure our cabin bag rules are applied fairly. The bag sizers are checked weekly, or sooner if an issue is identified and maintained and if an issue with a bag sizer is identified, it is reported by our ground crew and removed and fixed. 

‘Despite the independent AviationADR ruling in our favour, we have now provided Mr Hjelm with a refund as a gesture of goodwill.’

easyJet cabin bag controversies

This isn’t the first time that easyJet has got into trouble because of its cabin bag policies.

Last year, we reported it to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after checking hundreds of flights and failing to find any where you could take a bag for the claimed lowest price of £5.99. Prices were always more than £20 on routes we checked, and often around £30.

The ASA agreed with us and ruled against easyJet. 

It’s since scrapped the claim that bags can cost so little, replacing it with a vague ‘price varies’. EasyJet passengers who want to take cabin bags aren’t told how much that will cost until they’re halfway through the booking process. It varies with ‘dynamic pricing’ depending on route, departure date and other factors.

Our research suggests it’s likely to be around £30 each way on typical routes, but there’s no way to verify that without easyJet explaining in advance how much it charges.

Complaining to AviationADR

AviationADR is the largest adjudication scheme approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Passengers with complaints about easyJet, Ryanair, Tui and many other airlines can use its free complaints portal.

In the last full year for which we’ve got data, it ruled in favour of just 24% of easyJet passengers.

British Airways is one of a few airlines with a different scheme, CEDR. CEDR ruled against BA 73% of the time – although, unlike with AviationADR, passengers do have to pay £25 if their claim fails.

Some airlines, such as Jet2, aren't with any adjudication scheme. If you have an issue with those airlines, you have to complain to the CAA.

We’re interested to hear from people who have used these schemes in the past couple of years. Get in touch at travelexperts@which.co.uk.