He felt as if he had enjoyed a great deal of privilege.
A senior British passenger claims she was discriminated against by Ryanair after paying a $100 bag-checking fee, while younger, “attractive” passengers got on the plane without penalty.
“I absolutely hate Ryanair! I’ve been held for 20 minutes just because they said my cabin bag is too big and I have to pay an extra £75 to keep it in the hold,” fumed Maxine Haughian, 63. September 10 Facebook post. “Alternatively I can leave it and confiscate the bag and its contents!”
He added, “It’s ridiculous (not funny) how other bags that are exactly the same were allowed through without comment. It’s a good job I took a photo of this (beautiful) girl putting her case in the box and being let in.
“I’m clearly not young or good looking!!!!!”
His post included a photo of the said passenger, who was short and had pink hair, short shorts and flip-flops.
The story of the mother of two and grandmother of 11 happened last month as she boarded a Ryanair flight from Leeds, UK, to Alicante, Spain, Kennedy news and media reports.
She was reportedly stopped in line so that they could measure her bag.
The York resident found the solution strange as she had previously flown problem-free with the airline with the same suitcase, which she had had for 10 years.
She claimed that the bag fit the guidance rack, only sticking out “very slightly” by 2 centimeters over the edge, which was clearly too much for the supervising officer.
“They said the measurements are on site and it clearly states they have to sit within the rack rows,” lamented the passenger, who paid $32 for priority boarding. “It seemed very unfair. The bag fit.”
As a result, officials tried to slap the sexologist with a $98 bag-checking fee.
Things got even more unfair for the beleaguered Briton after authorities began randomly selecting people to charge regardless of the size of the suitcase, according to Kennedy News.
“People were carrying bags that clearly wouldn’t fit in the guide rack and they weren’t even being stopped,” Haughian lamented. “And many people were charged £75 on the spot.”
“A lot of people had suitcases that looked exactly like mine, and they were putting them in the rack and it was sticking out a little bit – but they were allowed in,” the upset passenger said.
That’s when Haughian realized officers were discriminating against people based on their appearance.
She noted that they also let the “young and attractive” woman above, whom she photographed, leave without feeding her anything, despite the fact that her bag was also large.
“I can’t understand why this would happen – it’s OK for some people to go through this and not for me,” she complained to Kennedy News. “And in that instance, the only thing that separated us was that she was a young, good-looking woman and I’m not young.
“Not that I’m a hag or anything, but I’m big.”
The fed-up flyer said she was eventually allowed to leave without additional charges after showing officers a photo of the other woman and her bag.
“I’m pretty stressed out and hoping to calm down and get into vacation mode before landing,” Haughian said in the post.
Looking back, Haughian feels that even though she may have overreacted somewhat, she has no other explanation for her singleness other than her age and appearances.
“That comment [about her being younger than me] “It was a little pretentious,” Haughian told Kennedy News. “I think I was angry at the time and felt like, ‘Why are you letting this person go?’ Because of me, I don’t see anything that differentiates the person or his bag, me and my bag, except the fact that the person is much smaller than me.’
Haughian said that ultimately she believed the policy was a “money-making” scheme and further claimed that she was duped because she was older and therefore more “compliant” in their eyes, she added. That “a lot of people just paid money.”
“There was an inconsistency to it all,” he concluded. “If you have rules, they should be applied consistently and uniformly.”
The Post has contacted Ryanair for comment.
