but this is only half of the truth.
LH CEO also said, that i wont pay big money for a airline and that the airline (with ever) must be profitable.
Before LH overtakes BD, LH will overtake others...short haul routes of BD doesnt make sense for LH and the new Long Haul Routes either.
Only thing with would be interesting are the Slots at LHR and MAN, but after open skies, a price war will begin and LH also knows that.

Sorry, but BD seems to be totally uninteresting...

well Sir MB is at retirement age now, so someones got to take over:)

LGW sorry that was a bit tongue in cheek

G-I-B

A lot of fact-less stuff on this thread

Any uninformed journalist reading this, ( and let's face it there are some out there) would conclude that the final nail had already been hammered in. Midland has been through crises before. And there seems to be a false impression that the man at the top doesn't have the stomach for the fight and should just roll over and let somebody else take over what he has worked for decades to build?

Also DTV, there are too many parties that don't want to see the airline "go under" and it's strategic position.

One more try guys or the thread gets closed. No if's no buts.

Stop guessing.

PPP

I more than anyone don't want to see them go under.

no one wants to see bmi "go under" we are just discusing what the future holds for this great airline. What the possibilites or a merger would bring. What ever the outcome is i think we can all be sure that bmi will continue. its just a debate of who is in the driving seat.

The British airline industry wouldn't be the same without bmi

Its time something is urgently done to rescue this great Airline !

What can be done, thats the question. any ideas?

What can be done, LGW, is Strategy.

BMi is long haul and short haul.
It's Lo-Co and Premium
It's Heathrow Trunk and Provincial Feeder
It's Embraer and Boeing and Airbus
It's Baby and it's grown up.

The airline's been going for 40 years, so someone's doing something right.
But from my business perspective, you can only survive by deciding on your stratgy and sticking to it.
And at present I can't see a clear strategy (sorry).

hmm an interesting strategy LGS

lets get this straight bmibaby, bmi regional and bmi are all trading names under british midland so.....

bmi is longhaul and shorthaul using the airbus a/c. bmi offers its pax on the shorthaul market a variation of ticket classes depending on what (THEY, YOU - THE PAX WANT), you choose and you fly - simple as that!

bmibaby is a low cost airline and fly boeing a/c

bmi regional is a shorthaul airline that uses embraer a/c that offers business or economy classes.

Now read all in to it what you want but the load factor will improve im sure, im not saying i agree or disagree with the bmi model at the minute but from a pax point of view this couldnt be easier!

one big thing the bmi bosses got right though and no one can argue with that is BMIBABY!!!! maybe because baby is so succesfull they maybe tried and modelled baby on the bmi brand??? who knows!!

Well, I want the return of the business cabin and some decent food on MAN-LHR. Can I have that please?
I'd also like to be able to choose my seat when I use the self-serve or online check-in. Can I have that, please?
Well, I admire your confidence. The load factors have been in freefall since the "modular" concept, whilst the competition seem to be happily soaking up all the business pax who were uneconomic for bmi.
Maybe you'll be lucky and fill the plane with low-fare punters. Somehow, I think not. Meanwhile, BA are getting my full fare business.

Was there strategic reasoning for bmi keeping the business cabin on LHR-BHD where BA does not compete directly?

I seem to remember that it was one of the few routes that kept the cabin - have all the routes where BA compete now lacking business class?

Oh, and is/wasn't BA Shuttle all one class as well?

Regards,

Shuttlebus

Land After - Seat selection is now available on the online check in.

Why when I try to book a ticket to Alicante from Manchester it takes me via Heathrow and costs £500?

I know bmibaby flys the route so why am I not offered the direct and cheaper option?

Someone tell Commercial!!!!

Thanks, Victor.

I regret, that it will take a few more postive changes before I will be tempted back to try it. It does beg the question, like many of these bmi changes, why everything is so rushed, implemented without testing and corrected/fixed at a later date. For example, the Frequent Flyer part of the website has locked out all the members for nearly a month. Not the best way to treat your best cutomers......

bmi is longhaul and shorthaul, using airbus or a clapped out 767 with different product offerings depending on which airport you happen to be departing from and what aircraft you end up on. Some SH have business, some don't. LH has paid for drinks in one market, it doesn't in another.

bmi offers it's pax on the SH market what they think pax want (10,000 mysterious PAX who included none of their frequent flyers it seems) and have then chopped and changed and flim flammed since the introduction of NBM that no one really seems to know what is going on - much less the passengers. "Tiny" fares which aren't always tiny. Some people have lounge access, some don't, which seems to change from week to week. OLCI and SSCI which treats low fare paying pax like dirt and assigns them ridiculous seats..The list goes on!

The mind boggles. Easier? This whole NBM will be a source someday for a business text book on how not to do things!

I know bmi well and have worked for them in the past but I do not have any current association with them other than knowing people there. For at least the last 20 years it has been a difficult business to understand. For many years it made insignificant profits which was odd for a business that had a good reputation and was based at LHR. But the published losses have not been significant either. It has a stunningly valuable slot base and the sale or lease of these could keep the business at least alive for many years. Auctioned off those slots would be worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Virgin. Lufthansa and everyone else there would give their eye teeth to get some of them. So I do not really understand where all this talk of crisis comes from.

Its owners have done some clever deals over the years not the least of which was the development of British Regional and its sale to BA. This made large profits for Sir Michael and his associates and should provide the basis for adequate funding for bmi should they have and really serious problems at this time. Add the slots to that and there is a very healthy asset base.

I have never been able to work out why bmi joined Star Alliance and I think it is very interesting that it has been reported that both LH and SAS have written off their investment in bmi. Joining Star caused a lot of pain for them all.

The decision to go long haul has always baffled me. It is always expensive and a very easy way to lose cash quickly. It also absorbs endless management time when perhaps they might be better employed looking after the basics.

The fares offerings out of LHR are baffling. If there was ever an airport that could support undiscounted fares it was LHR but baby fares are almost constantly advertised by them for LHR flights now.

Their route decisions are also baffling. They went into PRG, WAW and AGP and then withdrew just as those routes started to boom. PRG and AGP have made the so-called low cost airlines.

I cannot work out the strategy of baby. It seems to be constant chopping and changing of everything.

The whole group INMO needs a strategy review guided by experts in brand management, airline operations and customer services. Incidentally I hear from within bmi that the lost baggage situation at LHR is still horrendous.

Finally if they want to be credible they should move the head office from sleepy hollow to somewhere that has a dynamic environment.

I am sure that it is not irrecoverable but really firm action seems to be needed. But I do not think it is a company facing imminent crisis.

Someone mentioned it above...
'Decide on your strategy and stick to it'

Passengers, especially regular and loyal ones (ie the ones you want..no?) need reliability and certainty.

The Long Haul business out of MAN is a case in point. Great product, great service and building a good solid reputation.The flip flopping that has gone on has served only to undermine the work previously done. Where do they fly to now? Does anyone really know?

They have jumped in to some opportunistic LH routes at LHR, 'mixing it with the big boys' and most of this is frankly, a laughing stock.
If BMi want to see how to run a successful LH route they need look no further than the MAN-ORD service run by AA for (god knows,,20 years?). Every regular punter knows there is a daily non stop same time every day, runs like clockwork and always has done - total reliability is what's needed. That's how you build a sustainable business with brand loyalty.