BMI as a company is just like most of it's crew, old and lacking youthfulness.

Yepp! :ok:

I saw today that bmibaby are recruiting new crew based at BHD.

How is baby doing at the moment at BHD?

I know I would much prefer the service given from mature professional crew rather than the cheap nasty service I have experienced from some teenagers working on some LCC (I'm not saying that all young crew are crap because I have experienced many fantastic ones too). Then again it doesn't sound like you could appreciate or would know what good onboard service is.

Bmybaby you are really mistaken then, the old crews dislike change is a hard fact, the young guns love change and new challenges.

I dislike bad service, I refuse to fly LCC's - the closest I've come to is Flybe just the once and that's about it because I like service - but I'm not seeing much special in BMI's offering recently (as a regular BMI'er).

Might become a cabin crew base, but unlikely for flight deck, the cost of standby cover for flight deck means it will always be less expensive to HOTAC flight deck, plus trying to get crews to base there is not easy!

The majority of cabin crew in baby have the same customer care standards going back to diamond class days, but with a bit more fun, it's what keeps the airline alive for many of our regular customers.

Who knows what's around the corner, just hope they don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

Given half decent kit there is a great and profitable airline trying to get out, just think had SMB spent the money that was spent on A330 and long haul or WPS on mainline refit they could have had a very profitable airline on their hands by now, believe me it cabin crew that make it.....

Its not fair to say that bmi old crew dislike change. Out of any other airline I reckon bmi staff go through the most changes as bmi are known to chop and change things so often, but you never hear about their crew calling in the union and resisting any changes.

What makes you suggest that, is there anything bmi have ask their crew to change and they haven't?

I respect your view but I'm also trying to understand how you have come to your conclusion. :)

I concluded based on my knowledge of aged pilots who all share a similar lack of sympathy and sheer hate for change - they like 'real good and proper' airlines where they take off, they fly, they land and no need for fuss.

Still can't see any hard facts, just your general view but I think its best for us to leave it like that.

I was talking about BMI Mainline because funnily... This is the BMI Mainline thread.

I fly BMI Mainline 3 times/week normally, I've seen changes over the last 18 months, for sure.

JSCL
 

Baby have very few old farts on the flight deck, most of the old farts stayed with mainline,to ensure they continued to get free meals, including the 1800+ Cal breakfast, the vast majority are there because they like the fun of working for a by and large good pilot management team, yes the uncertainty of change grinds you down but not change in it's self.

I think the name calling at BD staff is uncalled for. I've always found BD staff very warm and approachable. This cannot be said for a significant minority of staff at another LHR based British airline. The same comparison can also be drawn for staff flexibility and willingness to adapt to change.

One thing I won't stand for is unnecessary and completely unwarranted attacks on the frontline staff at bmi.

I have been more than impressed with the professionalism and willingness to muck in from the people who actuallly deal with our customers.

To call them "old farts" is total rubbish and I'd suggest you know absolutely stuff all about the company if that is what you think of the people there. I've only been there 8 months, but the one thing I don't worry about is the people who actually look after the pax. I've seen them work miracles to keep the show on the road and their one concern is the passengers.

Poor show JSCL, seriously poor show.

I invite you to re read my posts. I choose to travel BMI vs BA, train and others because I adore the level of staff aptitude and capability but I also see from the last 18 months, the staff almost seem less motivated. And the old farts I'm referring to are flight deck at BMI and the up top mentality.

bmibaby = bmibaby forum! :ugh: :ugh:

How on earth as a passenger would you know that the attitude of the people who drive the things has changed? Do you spend a lot of time on the flightdeck talking to people?

My issue is with you calling people "old farts" when they are nothing of the sort.

There is a lot of uncertainty within the company, mainly because no-one is really sure who's making the decisions and what is going to happen in the next few months. However, I've certainly not noticed any change in how customers are treated and I fly on our aircraft as pax at least twice a week. Of all of the people I've worked with over the years, the people at bmi really do stack up at the top, they do a fantastic job in often trying conditions.

I wouldn't blame them if they were a bit jaded at times, but somehow the vast majority aren't.

I've found the flight deck crew a pleasure to work with and easily the most flexible of any pilot workforce I've seen. So I think it's extremely unfair for you to label them as inflexible old farts.

I'd like to put a good word in for BMI Cabin Crew. They are all second to none in my experience. They are, of course, constantly let down at either end of a flight by a grossly inept IT Dept, the buggiest and slowest website I've ever come across and often shambolic disembarking at LHR but they never let their Company down.

Ayroplain
 

The website has been revamped this month using the latest web standards incl HTML 5 the home page is smaller and down load time has been reduced from 4.5 to 1.7 seconds according to the bmi group magazine.

It certainly seems quicker and the flow on booking is more logical

Its not all bad news within the bmi group

Thanks. I'm glad to hear that. The front page looks different today. It took me more than two weeks to be able to "spend miles" on a flight. I tried it several times every day and the drop-down boxes for "From" and "To" never dropped down so no further progress could be made.

Another thing that has arisen over the past month or so is the printing of Boarding Passes online. When you get to the print point and print it the printout is not centred and runs off the right hand side of the page so that barcode is completely missing as well as part of the seat number. Despite there being a separate barcode down the bottom I have seen passengers being refused entry at Security and having to go to the desk for a replacement. The alternative is to request the Boarding Pass to be sent to an email address in pdf format where it prints OK. Hard to believe that such a simple process couldn't be got right initially and still not be rectified weeks later. I have never experienced this with any of the other airlines I fly with so my original description "grossly inept" still applies.