But from what I understand, these 'rich' saudis are using their wealth and political standing to obtain 'complimentary' tickets.
Granted its filling the front cabin, but at what cost.

MAN-ORD is bmi's single most profitable service (on one flight code with one rotation a day, granted one or 2 LHR destinations may have more profit, but work on multiple rotations per day), with high load factors. To cut it would be senseless, but then again, most of BD's decisions are!

I suspect it may be even worse than just pulling MAN long haul, I wouldn't be surprised if 1 or 2 330's go back to the leasing company marking the end of any ambitions bmi had to be a long haul airline. Certainly the revised Saudi schedules don't require another 330 and I can't see us using them on the mid haul routes. I reckon some could stand it (Tehran, Tel Aviv,) but I can't see the high-ups risking it in the current climate. In addition to job cuts I reckon lots of scale B pilots need to prepare for a pay cut.

In the distance he heard . . . . . . . . . . . :confused: tis Friday,and half the business day gone already, another wet fart ?

No announcement. Just more Rumours.

Bmi has plenty of cash in the bank, all 3 sections of the business is doing very well and nearly every Airline in the world wants a piece of bmi.

Those that can't afford a slice wants to see bmi fail because bmi are riding high. Just like a football team at the top of the league.

It was posted on Tuesday that the Unions had all been told that the meeting on Friday was cancelled, so NO announcement was to be made. The meeting & announcement were not rumours - all union officials connected with Manchester were invited to be there at 1030 & the announcement was to be made at 1100. Why are people still waiting for an announcement that has already been cancelled!??

I'm sure it will be made sooner or later, but for anybody waiting for a big announcement today - don't hold your breath!!:ugh:

Frankie,

You say Union officials connected with Manchester, but are they exclusive to Manchester or could they be the same for other bases, such as Heathrow? And are they bmi regional and bmi baby as well?


babybaby :{

As I understand it - the only unions invited were connected to bmi mainline, not baby or regional & Manchester only, not LHR reps. I think we can all guess what that meant!

BD's operations are like a 'Yoyo' at the moment.

Take the replacement of the A319/320 at LBA & MME, To a E 145.

What will they do when some of the flights are full??

And the MAN LH operations??

BD are not MAN's favourite Airline at the moment.

Are these operational decisions coming direct from Sir Michael or from Mr Reed & his troops??

Personally I think it's time Sir Michael hung his boots up, Stood down and gave way to a younger leader - A new pair of eyes on the job??

He's done his bit 30 + years.

Reading into Sir michael's life etc, I think He's now 'Stagnating' and running out of ideas.

It could be a change for the better for the future of BD/BMI.

He can't run forever??

Do you mean Mr Turner? Mr Reed retired years ago.

Probably won't be full seeing as the morning first flight is after 08:00 from LBA. The early slots at LHR are being used by the mid haul services & as these are rumoured to be some of the most profitable bits that makes sense. The big picture and all that......

Ultimately the future is likely to be LH - not long haul but Lufthansa!

Absolutely, the December call option is just around the corner and we await the blitzkrieg! They said they were going to take us over so lets wait and see... In the meantime it does look like Manchester and the A330s won't be around much longer, sad for anyone involved there.

BMI has just changed direction thats all. With the acquisition of Bmed they managed to get their hands on a lucrative market that was previously well out of their reach. That meant they could get away from the S/H market that is currently being filled with LO CO's slaughtering each other. It may have been a stroke of luck when they got Bmed but they have pretty much got the operation running well now and it is now the core business. L/H, domestics etc are now just additional slot keepers.

We have always known that if they could use the 330's out of LHR on routes where they could put around 40 business class seats then would be out of MAN like march hares. Anyone who joined bmi before L/H went to MAN knows that full well, for those that joined when the operation was up and running it would of been nice for them to have been told.

Having said that the owners of MAN will not want another large carrier pulling L/H routes from their airport and may tempt bmi to stay longer.

It may also be that they do get rid of the 330's all together and keep costs down in readiness for the great Lufty saga that will unfold in due course.

The BIG announcement!!
 

Well - the announcement about the BIG announcement has finally been announced!!

It is on Wednesday 5th November at Donington Hall. Meeting with the Unions before Nigel Turner makes his important company announcement.

I think we all know what it's going to be!! very sad times ahead with a lot of people affected. :{

I think the phrase is oh sh1t. Good luck guys and gals. Especially those of us at MAN.

Will Guy Fawkes be attending??? Gunpowder......Donnigton Hall!!:}:}:}

Good luck to everybody involved at MAN!

Quote
Having said that the owners of MAN will not want another large carrier pulling L/H routes from their airport and may tempt bmi to stay longer.

Reply
No they won't, And I don't think they would live to accept it?:*

BD have been at MAN about 12 years or so now, Remember when they started on the Dom flights.

For a long time BD were one of the few Carriers who didn't operate from MAN, And on very rare occasions our - LBA based DC9 called in.

If BD 'Fire' MAN up, MAN might tell BD to pull out altogether?

MAN's ultimatum might be - If your'e not going to run LH, Then why should you stay and run SH?:=

BD's SH routes are served by the remaining Op's.

BD need to be 'CLEAR' with the Airports they serve as to what their future plans are at the 5th November meeting.

Or it could be a 'Big' Firework Display not in their favour.:*

5th November? Cancel the fireworks, dust off the German dictionary and learn how to pronounce Guten Tag properly, Lufthansa UK it's to be?? ;)

Seriously it will be a great loss if BMI stop l/h flying from MAN, as a former business travel agent I booked many a pax from MAN across the pond, most would request BMI as their first choice to get to ORD. Good luck to all of you involved if this is indeed what the announcement is all about. I wonder if there will be repercussions for Regional and Baby too?

Why would MAN airport tell bmi to pull out altogether?
If they were to do so , then they would have to do the same to BA:ouch:

The omens are not good.

Caribbean routes bookable into 2009 (October) but the BD705/6 is now missing. flybmi dot com no longer carries Chicago as a destination and routes onward flights to the USA through heathrow on codescares.

MAPLC asking bmi to pull altogether would be financial suicide for them at this particular stage in the game, what with all aspects of business suffering and the economy bleeding money:}
Lets all wait and see what this announcement will be! rather than spreading rumours and upsetting all and sundry.:mad:
However if it was to be bad news like bmi pulling the long haul routes then why would they call the press in, bmi are a limited co and not public and therefore are not required to announce any good or bad news to the press
So lets just wait and see :=

Man - Ord
 

WhiteHatter - I'm a little puzzled about your post. I've just checked flybmi.com and found that BD705 from MAN to ORD on 9 Oct 2009 is available for booking.

Would you be kind enough to give a little more info as to what you meant by 'missing' or Chicago not being available as a destination ?

greyed out flights are available by selecting other fare types above
please select outbound and inbound flight to price your flight
Manchester International to Chicago O'Hare International - Friday 13 March 2009 departsarrivesflight numberduration 09:4013:15 BD705

8h35Chicago O'Hare International to Manchester International - Thursday 9 April 2009 departsarrivesflight numberduration 18:3008:05 *+1 BD706

7h35


i just tried and got this :rolleyes:

You can "email a friend"
 

I don't know what you lot are on about

I've heard on another board that WW, Regional and mainline are all to become one happy family, at least at MAN - not sure about elsewhere. Is this likely/possible?

Brian.

it seems like they are gearing up to flog the whole thing as one big package when the time comes for the buy out.

Sold
 

Just announced bmi sold to LH

Yeah and LH will use Slots at LHR before they go to others (BA, Virgin, EK...). So no good news for MAN.

Option exercised on Oct 10.

Now the nervous wait...

:bored:

BMI and Lufthansa deal... Looks to be DONE!
 

Found this today on the Frankfurt Allegmeine website. It reads:

Now my German is a bit rusty but I translate that as roughly:

So it looks like Sir Michael has decided to bow out of the game. He has had a hell of a run and now LH looks set to completely dominate the European and North Atlantic skies with a MAJOR foothold at LHR. I bet this is exactly what Wee Little Willie was hoping would NOT happen!

Yep, just read the announcement on the company intranet.

Interesting times ahead for BMI or should I say Lufthansa and its employees.

LH announced Q3 financial report. On page 25 of the pdf a little bit more.

http://www.lufthansa-financials.de/s...3/ZB3_08_e.pdf

Looks like BA are ****** then. Shame that UK plc didn't have the political muscle to be able to delay Open Skies. Yet again , it looks like UK companies will be the losers in another EU mandate.I wonder if it would have all gone through if it had been CDG that everyone had wanted to get into? I understand that more and more of BMI's engineering work is going East to be done by Lufthansa Technik. What price UK jobs ?

Just read the message on the BMI intranet - Lufthansa will take 50% plus one share. Changeover expected mid January 2009. No news yet about Regional or Baby...............

North Stand Tier3........Good Post....

LH to take controlling share in bmi - it is official. Better get the German phrase book ou!

29 October 2008

Dear Colleagues,

As many of you are aware from press speculation and comment, our two principal shareholders, Sir Michael Bishop and Lufthansa, have certain options over Sir Michael's majority shareholding in bmi, which were agreed when Lufthansa first became a shareholder in bmi in 1999.

On 10 October Lufthansa and Sir Michael Bishop on behalf of the BBW Partnership Ltd exercised an option which requires Lufthansa to purchase 50 per cent plus one share in British Midland PLC (bmi). It is expected that completion of the transaction will take place in mid January. In the meantime the Board and the management of the company will remain unaltered, but it is anticipated that alterations to the Board to reflect the new majority shareholding will take place on or around the date of the transfer of ownership.

This is a major change for bmi as Sir Michael has held a controlling interest in the airline since 1978. This brief note cannot adequately reflect his contribution to the company since joining the airline in 1964.

Discussions have already taken place with Lufthansa as to the future shape and direction of the bmi group. It is also worth remembering that Lufthansa have had representatives on our Board for the last nine years and therefore have a good view of all aspects of our business already. However, those discussions will now intensify and it would be wrong for me to prejudge the conclusions at this stage. Personally I am pleased that we are becoming a member of the Lufthansa family in this challenging time for our industry.

As soon as I have further details you will of course be advised. In the meantime please do not let the media interest or internal speculation about what may or may not happen as a result of the change in ownership distract you from the job in hand which remains just important regardless of who the shareholders are.

Expect a LOT of management level people being shown the door.

LH knows bmi inside out and knows EXACTLY where the dead wood is.

this is a shame
 

Virgin + BMI would have been a better tie-up and better for competition at LHR particularly for transatlantic routes. LH will just begin to slowly asset strip beginning with WW and regional.

DISP, your German/English is very good!

That'll p*** off a certain other airline at LHR, bet Sir Richard must've choked on his coffee this morning :(

Beeb story.

BBC NEWS | Business | BMI being taken over by Lufthansa