BMI
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News this morning - From Flight Global.
Good news for Regional.
A group of UK investors, known internally as "Granite", is understood to be carrying out due diligence on the regional subsidiary of BMI.
A number of other parties are rumoured to have been interested in acquiring BMI Regional. The sale is due to close "well before" the upcoming takeover of BMI, which is likely to face competition issues and may not close until the middle of next year, according to the source.
BMI Regional operates a fleet of four Embraer ERJ-135s and 15 Embraer ERJ-145s. The airline is hoping to continue operating the five ERJ-145s it is wet-leasing from BMI, following International Airlines Group's planned acquisition of the mainline carrier, the source said.
Ian Woodley, Graeme Ross and Robert Sturman, who have prominent roles within Granite, are understood to be likely candidates to head up BMI Regional following its takeover.
Good news for Regional.
A group of UK investors, known internally as "Granite", is understood to be carrying out due diligence on the regional subsidiary of BMI.
A number of other parties are rumoured to have been interested in acquiring BMI Regional. The sale is due to close "well before" the upcoming takeover of BMI, which is likely to face competition issues and may not close until the middle of next year, according to the source.
BMI Regional operates a fleet of four Embraer ERJ-135s and 15 Embraer ERJ-145s. The airline is hoping to continue operating the five ERJ-145s it is wet-leasing from BMI, following International Airlines Group's planned acquisition of the mainline carrier, the source said.
Ian Woodley, Graeme Ross and Robert Sturman, who have prominent roles within Granite, are understood to be likely candidates to head up BMI Regional following its takeover.
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We're due to fly bmi BHD to LHR towards the end of April, returning in May. We booked as soon as we confirmed our arrangements for a trip to Barbados. It would have been more convenient to fly to LGW but the fare offered by bmi, including luggage, was considerably lower than either Flybe or easyJet. Does anyone think bmi will pull off the route before April? How much notice will we get if this is the case? It's going to cost a great deal more if we have to re-book.
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No sale has yet been agreed ( that anyone knows of) so the price is probably yet to be thrashed out following valuations and due diligence.
frequentflyer2
Do not worry Lufthansa have already said that the winter schedule is unaffected and the summer 2012 schedule remains largely the same,BHD especially should be ok as BA do not fly there, bmi are being bought by IAG, they are not going out of business, longer term the brand may change but you will be fine. relax and enjoy the superior level of service you will get with bmi.
Do not worry Lufthansa have already said that the winter schedule is unaffected and the summer 2012 schedule remains largely the same,BHD especially should be ok as BA do not fly there, bmi are being bought by IAG, they are not going out of business, longer term the brand may change but you will be fine. relax and enjoy the superior level of service you will get with bmi.
Just wondering what you pilots are doing. Whether to hope that you are integrated with British Airways or jump ship early to Easyjet or the desert before your collegues become your competitors in the jobs war.
I feel for you all as i know it would be a difficult decision for me.
Best of luck to all.
I feel for you all as i know it would be a difficult decision for me.
Best of luck to all.
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Waffler
Jumping ships isn't really an option when your on a 3 month notice period, more of a slow crawl.
If IAG acquire bmi and some of the slots are used for long haul routes then that will likely require more not less pilots, i can't see any pilot redundancies from LHR out of this, but until a deal is sealed and a plan set out a premptive jumping of ship would seem a higher risk than staying put?
If IAG acquire bmi and some of the slots are used for long haul routes then that will likely require more not less pilots, i can't see any pilot redundancies from LHR out of this, but until a deal is sealed and a plan set out a premptive jumping of ship would seem a higher risk than staying put?
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IAG will have to do something when they get the keys to DH. There's no way they're going to put up with the losses that the bmi group have been producing.
The Hall is up for sale. I'm predicting that it will be closed even if it doesn't get flogged.
Let's be honest, how sensible is it that the majority of the flights are going from LHR and yet the head office is so remote (in more ways than one) from the actual operation?
It's daft and DH is a mill stone, unfortunately this means that people will also lose their jobs. However, again, how sensible is it that a company with less than 60 a/c has a staff complement of 3800? That's just nuts.
There will be big changes at bmi soon and I don't think people are going to like them one little bit. However, they have to happen and WPS should have started the process years ago, that way bmi might have had a chance at remaining as a brand in it's own right.
The sale process seems to be moving at one hell of a lick. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't concluded before Christmas. None of this Q1 2012 nonsense that we keep getting told. Given that IAG have been talking to DLH for a lot longer than most people imagine, then I'm guessing (and my spies elsewhere confirm) that it's all over bar the shouting and bmi will be a very different place by the end of January as the chopping begins.
A crying shame, but what can any of us do about it?
The Hall is up for sale. I'm predicting that it will be closed even if it doesn't get flogged.
Let's be honest, how sensible is it that the majority of the flights are going from LHR and yet the head office is so remote (in more ways than one) from the actual operation?
It's daft and DH is a mill stone, unfortunately this means that people will also lose their jobs. However, again, how sensible is it that a company with less than 60 a/c has a staff complement of 3800? That's just nuts.
There will be big changes at bmi soon and I don't think people are going to like them one little bit. However, they have to happen and WPS should have started the process years ago, that way bmi might have had a chance at remaining as a brand in it's own right.
The sale process seems to be moving at one hell of a lick. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't concluded before Christmas. None of this Q1 2012 nonsense that we keep getting told. Given that IAG have been talking to DLH for a lot longer than most people imagine, then I'm guessing (and my spies elsewhere confirm) that it's all over bar the shouting and bmi will be a very different place by the end of January as the chopping begins.
A crying shame, but what can any of us do about it?
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Sayagainslowly; Yours is the first criticism of WPS I've read or even heard about. I think the poor blokes hands were well and truly shackled regarding being able make to BIG changes to BMI. If you feel the need to apportion blame I think you should look in a different direction IMHO.
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Whether or not WPS had his hands tied, the LH team who have been in residence at the Hall for nearly 3 years has done the square root of beep all in terms of any significant change. The last big announcement (after the 105 million loss declaration) was a change of sandwiches and daily NCE out of LHR. All the sh1tty old bmi management practices are still firmly in place.
If old Wolfy was constrained, then he must be getting very well remunerated by LH to have looked like such a weak leader (and that's being mild) for the past 3 years! If we wasn't being constrained, then why the hell did LH allow him to stay in post?
When the dust settles, if he gets his triumphant return to OS with a senior role, then we'll all know what really happened.
If old Wolfy was constrained, then he must be getting very well remunerated by LH to have looked like such a weak leader (and that's being mild) for the past 3 years! If we wasn't being constrained, then why the hell did LH allow him to stay in post?
When the dust settles, if he gets his triumphant return to OS with a senior role, then we'll all know what really happened.
Last edited by AltFlaps; 19th Nov 2011 at 17:24.
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MrBenip, if this is the first criticism of WPS you've heard, then you haven't spoken to many bmi people.
He may have had his hands tied, but at the end of it, he's the bloke in charge and so bears the responsibility for the complete and utter failure of the turn around strategy.
Do you think IAG will keep him on after the deal is done?
He may have had his hands tied, but at the end of it, he's the bloke in charge and so bears the responsibility for the complete and utter failure of the turn around strategy.
Do you think IAG will keep him on after the deal is done?
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I had WPS on a flight recently and he basically said that he DID want to persue what he saw as the glaringly obvious need to expand into longhaul and take on the big boys with a superior product a la Moscow, but there "There was just no money made available to get some longhaul aeroplanes" so I'd say his hands were tied and that he came here with a vision of making bmi a real player but things have just not gone his way.
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That was only put to the DLH board recently. It should have been the strategy from day one. A bit like the project Greenfields that was put together recently to look at what the company should look like if starting from scratch.
It was a good idea, just 2 years too late.
I could be absolutely savage about what I've seen at bmi, but it would be pointless since IAG will be taking over and they'll do whatever they decide and me running down a company that I've really enjoyed working for (until recently, as I liked thinking I was doing something to help, now I realise that whatever I do is fundamentally pointless. I'll carry on and do my absolute best until it's all sorted out of course, but everything is taking foorever as most people are just in shell shock.) will not help one little bit.
As I've mentioned before. bmi is a lovely place to work and the people there are amongst the nicest I've ever worked with. It's just a shame that these people have been let down so badly. It's not the Senior management that holds all the blame. DLH need to understand that they've had a major part in ensuring that this was inevitable.
Like most aviation screwups, it's not one thing that's caused the final problem, but a series of smallish stupid things that have just added up to disaster.
It was a good idea, just 2 years too late.
I could be absolutely savage about what I've seen at bmi, but it would be pointless since IAG will be taking over and they'll do whatever they decide and me running down a company that I've really enjoyed working for (until recently, as I liked thinking I was doing something to help, now I realise that whatever I do is fundamentally pointless. I'll carry on and do my absolute best until it's all sorted out of course, but everything is taking foorever as most people are just in shell shock.) will not help one little bit.
As I've mentioned before. bmi is a lovely place to work and the people there are amongst the nicest I've ever worked with. It's just a shame that these people have been let down so badly. It's not the Senior management that holds all the blame. DLH need to understand that they've had a major part in ensuring that this was inevitable.
Like most aviation screwups, it's not one thing that's caused the final problem, but a series of smallish stupid things that have just added up to disaster.
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Yours is the first criticism of WPS I've read or even heard about.
WPS has not exactly been the most dynamic nor most visible leader I have ever worked under.
Had the leadership been more determined from when they walked in the door, and it would not have required a management guru to figure out where the reorganisation should have started. What happens from here on in wont be good news for many, which is rubbish given the time of the year.
For how IAG handle things, it might be worth reviewing how BA handled the absorption of BCal.
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Heathrow Questions
Im just wondering how many slots bmi holds at Heathrow including the bmi regional operation? also with regards to slots at Heathrow does a single slot include departure/arrival say for a daily service? if someone could explain the LHR system to me it would be great 
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Slots come in "pairs". Each pair entitles you to perform a take off and a landing at specific times. The slot doesn't constrain the destination, that is down to route licences.
bmi have approx 59 pairs, Regional have none, they operate some of bmi's slots on a wet lease.
Slots are administered by a company called ACL. If you want to know more start with the link below:
Airport Coordination Limited - Heathrow Airport
That's about it really.
bmi have approx 59 pairs, Regional have none, they operate some of bmi's slots on a wet lease.
Slots are administered by a company called ACL. If you want to know more start with the link below:
Airport Coordination Limited - Heathrow Airport
That's about it really.