AIRLINES face a crackdown on faulty baggage scales which result in passengers
paying more to check-in luggage.
A survey by Trading Standards at Gatwick found that 62 of the airport's 321
scales gave incorrect readings. One unnamed airline registered 10 faulty
scales among 18 used.
But research by Times Online also reveals widespread confusion among airlines
over recalibrating scales. EasyJet claims it can't, Ryanair says it doesn't
and BA only resets scales when opening check-in.
The issue is further clouded by revelations that some airlines, including
easyJet and Monarch, pay check-in staff bonuses to collect excess baggage
charges from passengers, a practice condemned by Trading Standards.
The Institute has received dozens of complaints from travellers, including one
who said her bag weighed 23kg at the airport and 18kg on her home scales. In
some cases this can be up to £7.50 per kg on short-haul flights with low
cost airlines, and up to £30 per kg on long-haul flights.
Other travellers have contacted Times Online with similar
stories. J Fraser from Lytham St Annes was told by Ryanair at Liverpool
that the bag he weighed as 17kg at home recorded 23kg on check-in, while Jay
from London said a suitcase he took on a connecting flight registered two
different weights at the two check-in desks.
The issue is not limited to Gatwick, with problems also reported at Stansted
and other UK airports.
Bruce Treloar, Trading Standards Lead Officer for Holidays and Travel, warned
airlines they face a crackdown before the summer holiday season begins.
Those who don't comply will be named and shamed.
“We will go back to the airports and get the airlines or ground handling
companies to train staff to zero-ise the scales between each customer,” he
told Times Online.
Treloar says check-in staff should reset or “zero-ise” the scales between
weighings to ensure accuracy. While some of the faulty readings at Gatwick
were due to mechnical faults with the scales, he says many were due to human
error.
“Electronic scales can become inaccurate over time because of intensive use…
low cost airlines are reducing their luggage allowance more and more, so the
scales must be accurate.”
Gatwick operator BAA says all airlines can reset scales. A spokeswoman said:
“It’s a requirement after each weigh to reset the scales to zero using a
button of the sort you get on a telephone keypad. More than 90 per cent of
our scales work this way.”
She added that scales need resetting after two or more bags have been placed
on them for a multiple weigh. This is done manually be pressing a button
labelled "CE/C*".
The reset theory is challenged by easyJet, saying check-in staff have no
control over weighing scales. “It is rubbish about scales needing to be
manually reset to zero whenever you lift a bag off – there’s no manual
re-set button,” an easyJet spokeswoman told Times Online.
She added: “After each passenger is checked in, the screen must be cleared
before the next passenger can be processed, there is no way to check in
another passenger without clearing this screen. This is not related to the
scales, however. It is impossible for a passenger to accumulate excess
baggage charges from a previous passenger.”
Ryanair, which operates out of Stansted, says its staff do not reset scales
between passengers. A spokesman said: "Airport check-in desks belong to
the airport. In every country we fly to, check in desk weighing scales are
independently tested and calibrated for the airports by the relevant
Government Department.
A Monarch spokeswoman said: "Our handling agent at Gatwick advises that
the weighing machine equipment used at check-in is automated so the check-in
staff do not manually re-set the scales to zero. If any irregularities are
detected this is reported and the equipment is re-tested in line with the
Weights and Measures legislation."
Conversely, BA says its staff are trained to re-set the scales as soon as they
open a check-in desk, but not between passengers.
Airlines also defended paying staff bonuses for penalising passengers with
excess luggage. A Monarch spokeswoman said: "As is standard practice
within the airline industry, Monarch does incentivise check-in staff for the
difficult task of enforcing the rules on weight allowances and also for the
sale of extras such as extra legroom seats."
EasyJet says the incentive is there because otherwise staff would let people
fly with excess baggage, but the spokeswoman added: “There is no way staff
can fiddle the system because they can’t adjust the scales.”
I read your Gatwick report, Regarding faulty scales. The public suspected this for a years. My suitase on Sept.1st 2008 a Monarch Fl. to Bodrum. It was 17.1K. + - 25 gramms on Certified scales. Monarck Gatwick check in, showed 19.1 K..And from Bodrum it was 17.1 K! This Con needs to be stopped NOW!
Barry Lehaney, Ilford, England
industry knowledge - hand luggage is not weighed!!!!! as long as it fits into the cabin above the seat, your fine.
neil, Maidstone, uk
it seems some airlines do not collect excess luggage charges on outward flights but wait for the returning uk flights to make there charge
cliff potter, corringham, essex
Just admit it: We all take too much on our holidays anyway!
How many jeans and jumpers do you really need when you go to a sunny location?
Franziska, Sevenoaks,
If you've ever monitored the volume of luggage that so many people want to take on the flight, you will start to grasp the airlines' perspective. Passengers will only travel light when they are charged more in excess than the cost of the ticket. You don't need all that junk people; so leave it at home.
Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan
Conveniently for Ryanair when I fly with them, my bag is underweight on the way out, but overweight on the way home - with no change to suitcase contents. What a shame for them to have to charge me 30euros for being over the allowance. Con artists.
Laura, Nottingham, UK
The same thing happened to me from Mexico to Dubai. A bag that weighed 17 kg at home weighed 18 at Mexico City and a whopping 19 at Frankfurt, even though I took out gifts bought for friends in Germany and put nothing in (was saving the space for the return flight). You bet scales are fixed!
Frank, Dubai,
Absolutely agree. If fuel is the reason for the charge, then the combined weight of the passenger and luggage should be taken. After all, somebody who weighs twice my weight wont be paying twice the fare, even though each of us pays for 1 seat. Keep to one explanation, and apply it logically.
Casey, England, UK
Funnily enough I recently had a bag that managed to lose 2Kg between home and Gatwick Airport - swings and roundabouts?
Peter Shearer, Woking , Surrey
if i fly outbound with baggage under the limit why am i not reimbursed? I find it painful to have to pay all these extra charges nowadays , just because airlines claim they didnt have the foresight to hedge against rising fuel costs...which I find hard to believe ,given predictions..
patrick, The Hague, Netherlands
We had that happen to us when we went to Cuba for a holiday. We took less out than we took in (we took medicines with us for friend's relatives) and we were told that we were 6 Kg over. Nearly 100 Euros in excess costs. The scales must have been fixed there but what can you expect. Be warned!
B J Deller, Marbella, Spain
I truly object to paying excess baggage charges when I'm half the weight of the passenger next to me. If fuel economy is the issue, let the airlines set a limit for the sum of the passenger's weight and that of their baggage.
Kirsty Mills, La Rochelle , France