Richard Deakin, who concedes he was ‘quite angry’, was flying out of London Luton Airport for a four-night visit to a friend in Málaga, Spain, when the incident occurred.
A livid holidaymaker has accused easyJet of ‘picking on’ him — as he claimed the airline insisted he prove his luggage fit the sizer four times before allowing him onto his flight.
Richard Deakin was flying out of London Luton Airport for a four-night visit to a friend in Málaga, Spain, on September 28, travelling only with hand luggage. The 37-year-old had packed enough clothes for his short stay, along with four tubs of gravy granules for his friend’s mum.
Richard, who concedes he was ‘quite angry’, was asked to put his bag in the sizer and although he admitted it was ‘hard to get in’, he insisted it fit — but the staff disagreed. An irritated Richard asked another passenger to film him putting his bag back into the sizer to ‘prove a point’.
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In the video, shared on TikTok, Richard can be seen repeatedly forcing his bag into the sizer until it slides in. Later in the clip, which has garnered more than 106,000 views, Richard can be heard questioning staff members about whether his bag has to ‘easily’ fit into the sizer.
Richard alleges he was made to place his bag in the sizer another two times under the watchful eyes of managers and, worried he’d miss his flight, removed a book and battery pack. The security consultant, who insists his bag did fit, claims it’s a ‘money-making tactic’ and that people shouldn’t simply stump up cash if their luggage is within the dimensions.
Despite some social media users siding with Richard, others criticised him for ‘yelling’ at staff. Richard, from Halesowen, West Midlands, said: “If I hadn’t been so persistent they would’ve forced me to pay that fine. It’s a money-making tactic.
“Before I put [the bag] in I was confident it was the right size because I’d measured it and weighed it. At first it’s a bit of a struggle pushing it down but then it just slides in and goes all the way down to the bottom. It was hard to get in because I had several tubs of gravy granules because in Spain it’s quite expensive.
“I was quite angry. I did know I could just take a few things out of my bag but I was being a bit pedantic out of principle. If you want to pick on me, I don’t mind having a debate about it. After that video was recorded a manager came down and asked me to do it again.
“This is the bit that really [annoyed] me. I said ‘it’s just been witnessed by six of your staff who said it’s okay and this is the video’. He said ‘I need to see it again’. I’d done it once or twice before the video, and [then] two times with managers. It looked like the flight was going to take off and I was scared at that point. The ego got put away in the back pocket really quick. I took the book and the charger pack out and put [the bag] in [the sizer].”
Now, Richard is urging fellow holidaymakers not to pay excessive baggage fees if their luggage is within the requirements. Richard said: “So many people wouldn’t have been so persistent and fallen right into the trap. There are people that won’t stand up and talk and ask the question so they’re getting charged. While I understand the rules, it’s frustrating to pay for a bag that was underweight and would have been placed in the same overhead locker as everyone else’s.”
Some users jumped to Richard’s defence in the comments, with one user writing: “EasyJet should be ashamed.” Another user commented: “I will avoid EasyJet at all costs. It’s a greedy, uncaring airline. Shame on them.”
A third added: “If it fits, it doesn’t matter if it’s easy or not.” Other users criticised Richard for his demeanour as one user wrote: “Why are you yelling at them?”
Another commented: “Why are you shouting at them for doing their jobs?” A third user commented: “That bag is too big. Simple as that.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “We have a well understood bag policy and customers are only charged if their bags are too large, in fairness to customers who have paid to bring larger bags, and we do not tolerate aggressive or threatening behaviour towards our ground crew. Once Mr Deakin was able to fit his bag in the gauge, he was not charged and was able to board.”