bmi LHR-Baku : better or worse than BMed?

[peter456]

Not wanting to appear overly critical of bmi since they started operating the London Heathrow to Baku route, BUT..........

IFE seems to be permanently "broken" on the aircraft that operate this route. Last excuse I was given was that "they were old British Airways aircraft" and the IFE would have to be "upgraded" before it would work again! I was then severly chastised for using my Walkman mobile phone in "flight mode" by the Stewardess as apparently it's against bmi's policy to allow this. I first flew with bmi on this route back on 14 December 2007(IFE non-op in Economy) and I am still getting reports that it's non-op on some aircraft. This was definitely an exception when BMed flew the route (with the same aircraft), with bmi it seems the norm.

The food quality does seem to have gone up a notch under bmi, however the drinks service has gone down the pan. There have been several occasions when the flight returning to the UK has had a very limited selection of drinks available (which usually means no alcoholic drinks and very limited soft drinks being available). Again, having flown this route many many times since BMed took over from BA, this was the exception, not the rule (something approaching the opposite again seems to be the norm for bmi).

Over-booking also seems to have become an issue with bmi, whereas I never became aware of this when BMed flew the route. When the flight is busy (as it always is on certain days), there can be passengers seen to be "bumped". Also, how can a computerised reservation system produce 2 boarding passes with the same seat number? This seems to be happening with monotonous regularity under bmi......

Finally, the bmi cabin crew seem to be just going through the motions and never crack a smile, almost to the point of being surly. The BMed crew were definitely more outgoing and accommodating with regards to customer service.

To sum-up:

bmi are in my opinion currently providing a below-par service on this route. They are definitely performing well below the standards that were set initially by BA and latterly by BMed.

Note that my comments reflect the standard of service experienced in the Economy cabin.

bmi - PULL YOUR SOCKS UP!!!!!! (or to put it another way - come back BA, all is forgiven).

[SXB]

I've frequently used that route in the past when it was operated by Bmed, as well other Bmed routes to the south causasus. I don't remember any problems with IFE systems. I always liked Bmed, friendly crews and they were one of the only airlines which arrived in the likes of Yerevan and Baku at a civilised time of the day, everyone else arrives at at 3 or 4am.

I'm back in Baku in a few weeks and I did have a quick look at the BMI website and it appears not to be possible to book a through flight to baku from FRA, It would only offer me two separate transactions, FRA-LHR and then a separate purchase of LHR-GYD. My travel agent will look at this but it appears not possible to book through tickets via FRA.

My experience of BMI is limited to a couple of single sector trips from FRA when I couldn't get a seat on BA or LH and while their levels of service cannot be compared to the two aforementioned airlines I didn't think they were too bad, I'd put them somewhere between RYR and EZ

[ladyflyby]

I can sympathise my friend! It's annoying for us ex-B|med crew as well!

The old B|med aircraft have been painted with the bmi colours (the fuselage is white) so it differs from their mainline fleet. At present bmi do not have an engineer capable of sorting out any defects on our old B|med aircraft so ife problems are just carrying on - especially on G-MEDL. I had a passenger a few weeks ago who had been at the same seat on his outbound flight and the ife didn't work and he was shocked to see that at the same seat, it still wasn't working. GYD is definitely one of the more lucrative routes but passengers will be looking over to Lufty for better aircraft and all in all, a better onboard service. My personal opinion is that the catering has gone downhill and as for the bars, we are now loaded with much less than before (half a bar less) so on more than one occasion I have run out of spirits and wine. Not good. All I can suggest is that you force your feedback upon bmi, who knows, they might listen to you, they certainly never listen to us. :ugh:

[6chimes]

Whilst there is something to be said with regards to the a/c maintainance at the moment . . . . its poor! The engineers are trying to get to grips with all the new a/c and particularly the ife systems that they are not particularly used to handling.

The catering company for bmi has just changed from airfayre to gate gourmet and there have been problems across the board with stock and loading.

The surly crew you mention could well be a MINORITY of ex bmed crew who are visibly demonstrating their discontent at having their cushy lives exposed to the real world of aviation and how tight and inflexible it is. But they could also be bmi crew that are unhappy being taken out of their comfort zone. Whatever the reason is, it is a shame that you the passenger felt it.

I hope it gets better for you.

6

[apaddyinuk]

LOL...Id love to hear form the former Bmed crew member who was delighted at the takeover when it was first announced and was very VERY quick to discredit and slag off BA on here!!!