BMI

[acbus1]

I love journalism these days. Read a message board, lift a story and its numbers and call it a "leak"...

.........BD115 mid-week with a 100 per cent load........

I love posters these days. Read a story, produce one figure and call it "universal".

[Doors to Automatic]

From the article:

BMI's chief executive, Nigel Turner, confirmed that passenger numbers were sharply down but insisted that the airline would produce encouraging results when it announces its annual profits next month. "We've taken a different strategy since I became chief executive," Mr Turner said. "We've specifically focused on getting smaller aircraft in. We've been concentrating on yield [price] and concentrating on business passengers. We've cut out a bunch of uneconomic fares. We were getting to be slightly busy fools."



How does cutting the product to nothing and eliminating business class square with "concentrating on yield and concentrating on business class passengers" ???!


Nice job Nigel

[virginblue]

Originally Posted by acbus1

I love posters these days. Read a story, produce one figure and call it "universal".

Did I ? You must have read a different post in which someone used the word "universal".

My anecdotal evidence was merely produced to demonstrate that it depends what you pick (hence the "..."). The Guardian has cherry-picked the routes that have poor results indeed. There are others, like LHR-AMS or LHR-BRU, that do reasonably well on average (BD115 is the evening LHR departure to AMS).

[The Real Slim Shady]

Radio 4 at midday today reckoned that the route figures were generally 13% down out of LHR. They, R4, attributed it to the change in cabin service.

[bmibaby.com]

I see very little reason in how a merger between Virgin Atlantic & bmi would actually benefit the consumer, as VS would most likely pull out of all non-LHR markets which bmi are the niche operator for or where they are the only competition, leaving just LHR, with most slots no doubt gradually converted to longhaul. bmi regional & bmibaby, whilst strong performers do not fit in with the virgin airline business model. Perhaps something you haven't considered, but is extremely important, is that there would be huge layoffs of longserving & hardworking staff.

It is far more probable that Lufthansa will step in to ensure that their moneys are being suitably spent. LH have managed an excellent turnaround of the far larger LX who they are completing their merger with, and have had recent experience with the no-frills sector having just purchased eurowings, which includes their no-frills subsidiary germanwings. I see it more likely they will want to protect their investment by bringing in measures that have been successful elsewhere.

Please bear in mind that we are not even twelve months since the new business model was launched, so it is taking passengers a while to adjust to the new product, and indeed bmi is slowly but surely ironing out the creases. Some might say it is too little too late, but under the dreadful decisions made by some of our management team, is a layer of professional staff who are doing a damn fine job considering the amount of stick they get, across all three bmi group airlines.

Whilst I am firmly of the notion that bmi needs to have a thorough shake-up to try to encourage people to fly with us again, this can only come about gradually, and in our roundabout way, things are being done.

[anna_list]

When will BMI release their results this year?

Last year, BMI released their financial results in early March, announcing a return to profitability.

Can anyone tell me when (or indeed if) BMI are due to release their financial results this year?

Should we start spinning conspiracy theories to explain why we haven't heard anything yet?

[Tisme]

There are going to be released shortly.

[EastMids]

Originally Posted by bmibaby.com

Please bear in mind that we are not even twelve months since the new business model was launched, so it is taking passengers a while to adjust to the new product..

Many regular BMI passengers "adjusted to the new product" some time ago, or more accurately adjusted to the lounge/gates on the other side of the domestic pier in LHR T1!

A

[Doors to Automatic]

Originally Posted by Tisme

There are going to be released shortly.

Yes as soon as they have found something else to sell off to prop up the results - perhaps a slot pair or two now everything tangible has gone?

[acbus1]

I wonder if there's much incentive to prop up the results, Doors to Automatic.

Lufty and SAS cop most of the fallout!


I can't help wondering, such is the bizzare degree of apparent incompetence, that there is another agenda. One almost hopes that this is the case, for the sake of the workforce (or, at least, the proportion that survive the outcome), otherwise it really is all over.

[cptkinz]

BMI Baby ..... Low cost airline????

I just want to hear the general opinion on this matter.

I have been using bmi baby on average of 2-3 return flights per month.

I am getting sick of the price increases on this once "low-cost" airline.

They seem to be taking advantage of their popularity by increasing the prices quite considerably.

I fly from Cardiff which is the most convenient airport for me. A flight to Mallorca cost me £230 return just a few weeks ago, and £150 one way from Palma to Cardiff just last week.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems ridiculous when you can fly direct to Orlando Sandford from Cardiff for £275 return.


BMI baby - "the airline with tiny fares"

[airborne_artist]

I am getting sick of the price increases on this once "low-cost" airline.

Vote with your wallet - seems you won't be alone - BMI baby's load factor is shrinking.

You can't really blame BMI if you have paid their raised prices

[Doors to Automatic]

Originally Posted by acbus1

I can't help wondering, such is the bizzare degree of apparent incompetence, that there is another agenda.

Funnily enough I have been wondering just that over the last few weeks because surely no-one is this incompetent? That said I cannot for the life of me think what it might be!

[cptkinz]

That's the thing. I either suffer their prices or travel to bristol for easyjet, normally half the price of bmi. Then I have the added cost of petrol, bridge and parking. Never mind, hopefully an actual low-cos airline will grace Cardiff some day.

[brabazon]

Sorry but that's competition for you - you pays your money .......

Either way bmibaby is still cheaper than it would about 10 years ago before the likes of Ryanair and easyJet started the ball rolling and all you had was the choice of BA or BD on short haul or their foreign competitors.

[bmibaby.com]

I can only suggest you go back about a decade before the boom of low-cost airlines, when it was largely British Airways or two-bit regional carriers operating from the regions when flying on any kind of "service" was ridiculously expensive for the standards that you received. Whilst you may not always be able to get the lowest fares which are advertised, you are now able to get regular, scheduled, value-for-money service from your local airport. Also consider that there are people who are able to bag the cheapest fares, that is those who manage to book when the seats come out on sale, and even the last minute fares will be considerably cheaper than one proposed by a legacy airline, or the price of having to drive to an alternative airport. The wording "low cost airline" does not mean low fares, it means their operating costs are low, often with cheaper fares being offered to the customer as a result.

[Jinkster]

I always understood BMI Baby to be low fares rather than low cost...

[bmibaby.com]

What largely seems to have gone unnoticed is the fact that British Airways have actually followed a number of moves that bmi have rolled out since the new business model was unveiled last summer. BA, like BD, will now get passengers travelling on domestic flights to check-in online or via a self-service kiosk. They've also cut business class & free food on regional flights, as well as showcasing a more transparent fare structure. Whilst there are similarities, BA has done this in a much easier to understand way, with a certain degree of professionalism, which has been lacking from the bmi stategy. I do not agree with a number of bmi's management decisions, such as the issue over longhaul & some of the shorthaul serivces, but bmi is not alone in the bizarre decision makings.

[cptkinz]

My opinion of a low cost airline is that the low cost is a benefit to the customers, not the airline.

Where does the slogan "the airline with tiny fares" come from then?

[Railgun]

Originally Posted by bmibaby.com

even the last minute fares will be considerably cheaper than one proposed by a legacy airline.

Ever checked some of the "Legacy airlines" fairs at the last minute? Very often they are cheaper or a match for so called "low cost" airlines.