bmi will do well with this new business philosophy because they're going to start off with a relatively strong following of diamond club carriers that will continue to fly with the airline to earn miles. Most pax stay with one airline so they can make leisure trips or upgrade to business, and whilst I am sceptical of no more business class, I think a lot of the moves that are being made are long overdue.
It is now incredibly commonplace in the US "major" airlines for them to sell food in a product petnicknamed by crews at our Star Alliance partner United as BOB (Buy-On-Board). What United found, is that passengers would rather have is the choice to buy something of good quality & that they like, rather than being given a meal of poor quality, quantity & no choice! I have heard that we are to introduce a mixture of; cold meals, sandwiches, salads & snacks for purchase as well as soft drinks, tea/coffee & a full bar service (beer, wine & cocktails) on all flights. On breakfast flights & flights over two hours the rumour is hot food will be available too.
I think it would be better to establish the bmi brand nationwide. I like the little bmibirdies that bmi have been using in a couple of their ads. Like "tiny", they have a certain charm to them, and I think they would be excellent spokesanimals for the airline!
However, the question of should baby grow up & be merged back into mainline/regional is a tuffy!!! Like Tango at Air Canada & Ted at United, bmibaby is seen as a low-cost airline, and is as such the first port of call for many people who are looking for a cheap getaway. Perhaps, like Tango, it should just become a brand rather than an airline, a booking agent or ticket class, or perhaps the airline should be the focus of leisure routes.
Finally, bmi needs to sort the schedule out. Passengers will want a range of business & leisure destinations with at least two flights a day (one morning & one evening) and until they do this, as has been seen on the MAD route, people will go to airlines with greater market penetration. bmi could really benefit for the brand recognition baby now has in some markets (AGP/ALC/MJV) by moving into these cities ...