BMI

[Endeavour]

Where has G-MIDY disappeared to? Has the axe been yielded on one of the few original A320's with a decent business class?

DO, DT & DY are all returning to Y156 config over the next couple of months. all MH routes will be operated by G-MED. a/c to standardise the MH product.

[Deep and fast]

Facebovered

We are crewed at the correct level for the A/C we have so no one is facing the boot yet. A few Captains and first officers had base moves late last year so unless there was a master plan to make certain individuals redundant, I think the company must be relatively happy with where people are unless they cut an aircraft or two. New route ABZ Birmingham started last week and more would have happened if i wasn't for the mainline requirement for our 145's.

As for the Austrian Lufthansa deal, the problem is government money is involved. Not an issue with the bmi purchase.

D and F

[ajamieson]

Originally Posted by Endeavour

DO, DT & DY are all returning to Y156 config over the next couple of months. all MH routes will be operated by G-MED. a/c to standardise the MH product

Really? All of them? I thought it was just DY that was returning to SH seating. Shame, as DY, DT and DO were more comfortable.

[EGAC is Better]

Thanks for all the info chaps! It is interesting to hear the goings on!!

Its a shame about DO/T/Y. It is good they are standardising MH product but is this also something to do with providing airframes for charter work? I found the 50" leather seats great! I always loved it when one of them made an appearance on the BHD run. Personally I always thought 6 rows of business in those seats with reduced legroom would make a fantastic SH product. Limited loss of Y seats and an incentive to buy business/better product on routes where other airlines compete eg. Dub,Gla,Edi and to a lessor extent Belfast! Any unused business seats could then be offered as a free upgrade for gold cards therefore giving something back to loyal customers.

AC

[EI-BUD]

Got an email from Bmi today to explain that diamond club points were changing, something to the effect of from May1st booking on diamond club would be 2.5 times more, not sure of what it meant, i do understand in basic language that each trip will cost more points, so i may just use up my balance pre April 30th! and plan a summer trip!

EI-BUD

[jerboy]

Limited loss of Y seats

There is a fairly significant reduction in Y seats on MIDO etc. The config for these a/c is C20M108, as opposed to M156 for the rest of the 320s. This gives a loss of 28 seats altogether (and a potential loss of 48 Y seats depending on config). The business seats would have to be sold at a substantially higher price to make up the costs I would think...

Although loads aren't exactly impressive at the moment, I'm sure it isn't the most profitable config except on the MH routes where the demand is there to pay pretty high fares for the swanky Business seats.

It can also make aircraft substitution a bit of a nightmare - having a standardised fleet is helpful.

Having said that it was always nice to get DO/T/Y on the JER-LHR hop. You could fill most of the flight by playing with the recline function!

[nitefiter]

AngryBaby
why fly an old heap when you can fly an EMB???
About 30k a year more should do it!!!!!!!
and yes i have done both and i know which id sooner be in!!

[11K-AVML]

EI-BUD, miles redemptions in First are going up to 2.5x the base value. Redemptions in LH First will also cost 2.5x miles plus a 10,000 miles surcharge. So that is to say, the cost of flying in first will be 2.5x more than the cost of flying in economy. Previous to the change it was only 2.0x the cost of economy.

I presume this is what the email you received is refering to (at least I hope so!)

jerboy,

Although loads aren't exactly impressive at the moment, I'm sure it isn't the most profitable config except on the MH routes where the demand is there to pay pretty high fares for the swanky Business seats.

Although the mid-haul seats are a nice comfort on the shorthaul routes, they really are sub-par on the midhaul routes. Most of the one's I've experienced are in tatters with bits broken or missing e.g. AVOD, and some don't even recline properly. When you use them for 4-5 hours they're not so comfortable and certainly not impressive. No offensive, but presonally I wouldn't regard them as swanky.

[ajamieson]

Exactly my experience, and I'm puzzled why bmi would revert to the ageing ex-BMED seats and remove the newer seats that are familiar to DME customers since the route launch. I do, however, see the benefits of a tidier configuration pattern and keeping MEDx aircraft for mid-haul routes.

[Endeavour]

With the two MAN based A330s taking over the CAI and TLV routes and the new A321 G-MEDU arriving next month, G-MIDO, DT an DY are no longer required in mid-haul config and they will return to Y156.

The surplus BC seats will be refurbished and modified to fit IFE and will end up fitted to some of the older G-MEDx a/c.

[Facelookbovvered]

Nitefiter

Well said old boy, "in thrust we trust" and a pair of 22.5k CFM's is better than a couple of boosted hairdryers..........tin hat time.

Having flown both i'd take the boeing anyday 310 knt 3500ftpm climb at FL280 at 50t. that would give a St Paulo sewer pipe driver a wet dream.....lol who cares that that they are 20 year old, i'd would have loved to have had a crack at concorde and thats older!!!

[AngryBaby]

Ok boys, white flag ok!

I'll just keep having them wet dreams lol.

[INKJET]

Don't give in to them Angrybaby

There is nothing wrong with the Barbie Jet, which just a biz jet with a few extra seats, i am not sure its right for bmi in the present climate,IMHO i think Jim French made the right call with the Q400 21 extra seats, lower fuel burn and turboprop salaries, the sector block times on most of Regionals routes (incl the one's they run for mainline) are within 5 mins on either aircraft.

Interesting to see that baby are doing BFS-PRG this winter, not sure where the aircraft starts from (no based aircraft at BFS) and it won't position into do this, BHX and/or MAN aircraft would be my guess

[True Blue]

It comes from Cardiff. Cwl-bfs-pra-bfs-cwl, 3 times a week.

true Blue

[tinyflyerBHX]

cwl-bfs-prg-bfs-cwl

Can't help thinking this is going to be another case of the LGW-PRG and LGW-ORK routes which were a W pattern using a EMA aircraft ok until things go wrong then chaos across the entire network as soon as an aircraft goes tech or it's ok until a bit of competition comes on to the route and the baby retreats as fast as it can.

[INKJET]

things can and do go wrong

I guess with baby still flying to PRG from MAN & BHX and BFS from both plus EMA there are plenty of options for recovery even if the crews end up finishing their day in a taxi.

Any news on winter charter programs?

[GayFriendly]

Not sure crews would be too happy getting a taxi back from BFS to BHX, EMA or MAN......Then again i've heard the Fast Ferries are pretty nippy these days and a darn sight newer than Babys 733's

[INKJET]

old 737's

I wonder how long it will take to taxi back from Cagliari Airport!!

[Businesstraveller]

Airmiles Redemption

Re. the increase in miles required to redeem in 1st class - it's still great value in comparative terms to the commercial cost of the seat you'll get. To be honest though, more of an issue (personally) is that whilst the Star Alliance network gives pretty good global coverage the network becomes a lot more patchy when you look for 1st class cabins. Still, if that's your biggest concern in life....

[flying macaco]

Article - WSJ.com

The EU commission have set a deadline of May 14th to clear the LH deal. Hope we get some clear idea of LH plans soon...

(Full Article)
BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)-The European Commission has set a May 14 deadline in its initial review of German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG's (LHA.XE) planned takeover of U.K.'s British Midland Airways, or bmi, according to a commission document.

By that date, the commission has to clear the deal or launch a four-month in-depth investigation.

Lufthansa owns a 30% minus one share stake in bmi but intends to raise the stake to 80% by acquiring 50% plus one share from bmi founder Sir Michael Bishop.

Scandinavian carrier SAS AB (SAS.SK) owns the remaining 20% in bmi.

The purchase of Bishop's BMI stake would mark a further step in Lufthansa's rapid expansion.

Having acquired the airline that emerged from the failure of Swissair in 2007, Lufthansa embarked on a buying spree in 2008, taking a 19% stake in a U.S. budget carrier and 45% of the parent of a small Brussels airline, SN Holding SA.

Lufthansa also plans to fully acquire Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI)

The commission currently is conducting an in-depth investigation of Lufthansa's takeover of SN Holding, the parent company of Brussels Airlines. The commission's initial investigation of that deal showed the combined carriers "could significantly impede effective competition," particularly for routes between Belgium and Germany and Belgium and Switzerland.