Well Out Of Gauge

Budget airlines. They all look different. But there is one similarity they all share: you shouldn’t trust them further than you could chuck them. This was underlined by a recent BBC Watchdog investigation.

BMIBaby – the airline with allegedly tiny fares – have been caught using under sized hand luggage gauges. What they? Well, a gauge is what they use to show that your carry-on bag is within the size limits. For this carrier, it’s 55cm by 40 cm by 20cm.

Differently sized gauges were being used by the airline: those using conventional check in (and paying extra) got the gauge that accepted anything up to those measurements. Those checking in online and going straight to the gate got a smaller one. Result? Smaller gauge doesn’t accept bag, bag has to go in hold, thirty quid extra.

BMIBaby have been making a variety of excuses about this one. But, for a carrier facing an uncertain future, and not making money, the use of a device that enables them to add a nice little earner to their revenue stream gives off a decidedly unpleasant aroma.

This one is well out of order.