STAFF at Glasgow Airport are incentivised with cash bonuses to catch easyJet passengers travelling with oversized bags, according to a leaked email.
Staff at Swissport, an aviation firm that operates passenger gates at airports across the UK, are “eligible to receive £1.20 (£1 after tax) for every gate bag taken”, according to the Guardian.
The payments, which are made directly to employees, are to “reward agents doing the right thing”, according to an email sent to staff which explained the “easyJet gate bag revenue incentive” scheme.
For staff concerned about meeting targets, “internal tracking will be used to identify opportunities for further support and training for individual agents, but will not be used negatively”, it said.
Swissport employs people in Glasgow, Birmingham, Jersey, Newcastle, and elsewhere.
Ground handlers earn around £12 an hour, with one former Swissport passenger service manager telling the Sunday Times they had no choice but to police the line on oversized baggage.
“Confronting people with excess baggage is like taking on fare dodgers,” he said.
“You risk abuse or worse – imagine stopping a group of lads on a stag weekend and telling them I’m going to have to charge you more than you paid for your tickets to check those bags into the hold.”
EasyJet allows passengers to take a small bag that fits under their seat for free and larger bags can be stored in overhead lockers for an additional fee.
However, if an oversized cabin bag is confiscated at an airport's gate, the passenger is charged £48 to stow it in the hold.
Swissport said: “We serve our airline customers and apply their policies under terms and conditions for managing their operation. We’re highly professional and our focus is on delivering safe and efficient operations, which we do day in and day out for 4m flights per year.” 
EasyJet said it used different ground handling agents at different airports and they managed remuneration directly without its oversight.
The airline said: “EasyJet is focused on ensuring our ground handling partners apply our policies correctly and consistently in fairness to all our customers.
“Our bag policies and options are well understood and we remind customers of this when booking, before they travel and on their boarding pass, which means a very small proportion of customers who don’t comply will be charged at the airport.”
