BMed

[aeulad]

BMED are to start flights from London Heathrow to Ankara in Turkey, and to Urumqi in China. Ankara daily non-stop, Urumqi schedule not yet published.

[Buster the Bear]

The Chinese destination I do believe to be in a region that is likely to yield crude oil?

[WHBM]

What a great success BMed seem to make of their obscure area of interest in the world, eking out what little traffic there may be to their destinations.

If BA mainline had retained responsibility for the area, I wonder how many of these points would even have any BA service at all ?

[GOLF-INDIA BRAVO]

Yes but look at the fares people pay on these routes.
I remember when my wife worked in business travel and was on call out she took a call at home on a bank holiday monday morning from a guy who says get me to Baku by tonight don`t care how much or how I get there but just get me there,
it cost thousands but all were happy

G-I-B

[spanishflea]

I guess Urumqi will go via Ekaterinburg. Its practically right under the direct routing from LHR to Urumqi so makes sense.

[newscaster]

I had a feeling they would eventually start Urumqi, wouldnt be surpsrised if they start Kabul one day as well.

[flyer55]

Heard they may be losing the Almaty route

[Flightrider]

There was some concern about Almaty because the Kazakh authorities were trying to move all international flights to Astana, to which BMed and various other European airlines didn't want to fly because demand to Astana is pretty low. However, it seems to have gone very quiet from the Kazakh side and for now, Almaty services continue and are expected to do so for the foreseeable future. It would be very surprising if BMed is dropping Almaty to replace it with Urumqi services as a pro-active move if there is no government pressure on it to do so.

[newscaster]

Astana now gets Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia and Uzbekistan Airways, Kazakh govt. have revoked their decision on forcing airlines to fly to Astana, these three are flying their on their own objective.

[tomatolover]

I heard Urumqi will go through baku??? who knows... Hope its not a shuttle

[Aksai Oiler]

Any chance they will fly to Atyrau once the terminal has been rebuilt :}

We got a newsletter from the UK Embassy stating it may happen once the whole airport rehabillitation is complete - and it seems with the recent bad weather the authorities have been smart enough to open the new runway.:ooh:

[newscaster]

Another forum here mentioned BA proper planning Atyrau service and not BA/BMed.

[Aksai Oiler]

Newscaster

I have searched the forums and cannot find the relavant thread apart from myself stating that the UK Embassy had informed us that BA was trying. However I believe this was BMED and not Mainline. Maybe I am wrong and what with Wicked Willie, he might charter an Antonov 2 to do a daily shuttle service to Baku (and rebrand it BA Connect) ??

With one oil company adding up to 7000 additional employees in the next 12 months (don't quote me on the timing), there is a need for additional flights to Atyrau. Right now with the airport in bit's and pieces it's hard to see this happening. It would be nice, though - but I'd rather a A320 to Heathrow than an antiquated biplane to Baku.

:}

[newscaster]

Yes it mentioned BA wanting to fly there with 757, thread was related to Astraeus.

[Flightrider]

BA do want to fly London-Atyrau but several other European carriers want to fly to Atyrau as well, and there is no immediate prospect of this changing even despite the runway upgrade at Atyrau. Other works appear to be required before the airport can receive more traffic. It was BA mainline; and they were looking at Gatwick-Atyrau with a 757, but quite how this would work when the 757s are all based at LHR is something of a mystery.

The only recent development has been Astraeus re-starting its oil industry flights between Gatwick and Uralsk and then starting a new service between Gatwick and Aktau, further down on the Caspian.

[jaarrgh]

Just trying to settle a discussion..... at present just how many aircraft does BMED operate? My guess was 9 - 5 A321 and 4 A320 taking into accout this months delivery. A mate says there are 8! If anyone can shed some light it would be gratefully received! Yes, I know I should get out more but.....

[goldeneye]

BMED currently operate 4 Airbus A321-231 and 3 Airbus A320-232. With more A321's on order.

Jethros (http://www.jethros.i12.com/fleets/fleet_listings/bmed.htm) have a current fleet list for BMED. Also the CAA G-Info (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?categoryid=60&pagetype=65&applicationid=1&mode=summary&owner=BRITISH%20MEDITERRANEAN%20AIRWAYS%20LTD) listing show details of the current fleet.

[ravfooty]

Soon to be 8 aircraft, BMED take delivery of their 5th A321-231, G-MEDM (MSN 2799) on the 26th of this month.

[Lucifer]

Surprised that nobody has picked up on this yet.

Telegraph:

BMED, the British Airways franchise partner that flies to some of the riskier parts of the globe, is in last-ditch rescue talks with another airline, thought to be Bmi, after a proposed pounds 30m deal with Lebanon's Mikati family broke down.
Amid a looming cash crunch, BMED has written to its shareholders warning them that, should the current negotiations fail, there was a risk the airline would be unable to pay its debts.
The carrier, which is chaired by Tory peer Lord Hesketh, who himself owns a 19pc stake, is thought to have only weeks to conclude a rescue deal.
A collapse would create another problem for BA chief executive Willie Walsh, just as 10,500 cabin crew have called a trio of three-day strikes, starting on Monday.
BMED, which became a BA franchise partner in 1997, flies eight aircraft under BA colours to 16 destinations from Heathrow, including Beirut, Damascus, Teheran, Tashkent and Khartoum. It employs 750 staff.
Should BMED fail to strike a deal, BA would have to consider whether to fly these routes itself or abandon them and their passengers to other airlines.
BMED, formerly British Mediterranean Airways, was set up in 1994 and for many years operated as a profitable airline. Its most recent accounts, for the year to March 31 2005, show profits of pounds 5.12m pre-tax on pounds 99.7m sales. However, it has been brought to the brink by the soaring oil price and the war in Lebanon, and is expected to lose pounds 21m this financial year, on sales of about pounds 118m, after pounds 10m losses in 2006. BMED's financial crisis was triggered by the decision of Syrian financier Wafic Said, whose family owns almost 50pc of the shares, not to put any more money into the company, having already advanced it an pounds 8m loan.
Under the putative deal with the Mikatis, the Lebanese family was to provide a pounds 3m bridging loan and inject a further pounds 27m to take majority control of BMED and repay Mr Said's loan.
However, BMED chief executive David Richardson said yesterday: "While we are still having conversations with the Mikatis, their exclusivity period has come to an end. They wanted to make some pretty significant changes to the deal which our shareholders thought was unjustified.''
He declined to make any comment on the talks with another airline, or identify it, but said: "I am still confident that we will be able to secure a deal with someone. If you are an airline with eight slots at Heathrow, it's bizarre that you wouldn't survive in some shape or form because those slots have value.''
BMED is also talking to BA about possibly amending its franchise agreement, under which it pays 3pc of turnover to fly in the flag-carrier's colours.
In 2004-2005, BMED paid BA around pounds 14m by way of franchise fees and payments for other services such as engineering and lounges. It also provided BA with pounds 28m worth of connecting passengers, while BA fed through pounds 35m worth of passengers from its routes to the BMED network.
Mr Richardson said: " BA are happy with the franchise agreement as it is but we are struggling to make it work for us.''

[Off Stand]

The have, look at the BMED thread on the cabin crew pages and BMI thread on the airlines, airports, routes and news pages. Appeared on the 24th.

[eldbs]

As of this afternoon bmi have bought a 99% controlling stake in BMED with the remainder to be bought in the near future.

17 new destinations 8 new aircraft 770 new staff!

BA Franchise will terminate in October.

:8

[Localiser Green]

Internal communication issued bmi staff:


Dear Colleague



We have today announced that the bmi group holding company British Midland plc has acquired control of the Heathrow-based airline British Mediterranean (BMED). Our holding company has subscribed to new shares in BMED which will effectively give bmi a 99 percent controlling stake in the airline. In due course we plan to buy out the remaining minority shareholders.



All existing non-executive directors of BMED have today resigned their positions and I have joined their board along with Sir Michael and Tim Bye. David Richardson, chief executive of BMED will retain his position and report directly to me.



We are extremely pleased with the arrangements we have been able to agree with the current board of BMED and the majority shareholders. We have been aware for some time of the opportunity that existed at BMED but have only recently been in a position to enter into a meaningful dialogue with them.



Bringing BMED into the bmi group offers tremendous opportunities for the growth and development of our businesses. It places BMED in our family of airlines where we have a significant presence and standing in a wide range of markets. We will be creating an operation with a turnover in excess of £1 billion a year. It also enables the bmi group to accelerate its strategy of expansion into the medium-haul markets of BMED. They operate to 17 destinations in 16 countries and there is no overlap with any of our own current routes. Many of the BMED destinations have restricted access to the market due to existing bi-lateral agreements that would have taken us a considerable amount of time to gain access to. There are also a number of clear business synergies between our two organisations. Like bmi, BMED is an established Heathrow-based carrier also operating Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft with IAE engines and, like our own medium-haul product, they have a two class cabin. Improved network opportunities will also exist through our respective Heathrow operations.



The opportunity for us to expand the bmi group in this way is yet again a clear vote of confidence by the shareholders and their commitment to grow our business. BMED is a first class airline whose staff have worked hard on developing an extensive route network and a reputation for delivering an excellent product and service. I look forward to working with them to rebuild their business after some difficult times over the past few months. We have already reached an agreement with British Airways that will see the franchise agreement and any other commercial agreements that exist with BMED continuing for a transitionary period until the end of the Summer 2007 timetable.



In the short term we plan for the business to continue to operate as it does today with no immediate changes to network or structure. A comprehensive review of the business will take place over the next 30 days. For those of you not too familiar with BMED here are some interesting facts about them:



• Formally known as British Mediterranean, BMED was established as a limited company in 1994 by a group of private investors

• BMED has operated as an independent franchise partner of British Airways since 1997

• BMED flies under the British Airways brand and utilises British Airways livery and flight codes. BA is the worldwide sales agent for BMED

• BMED has a fleet of three Airbus A320 and five Airbus A321 Aircraft

• The airline flies to 17 destinations in 16 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia and has 770 employees



We start the year off with more exciting news about the bmi group and I am sure you would wish to join me in giving BMED and their staff a warm welcome into the bmi group of airlines.



Kind regards



Nigel

[lordsummerisle]

At least now you can say do you want to BMI MED Baby? Said fast enough could be a good chat up line!

[Fargoo]

BMI Press release

bmi acquires control of British Mediterranean

release date: 02/02/2007

British Midland plc announces that it has acquired control of the Heathrow-based BA franchise airline British Mediterranean (BMED). British Midland is the group holding company of bmi and has subscribed to approximately £30 million of new shares in BMED.

bmi’s chairman Sir Michael Bishop, chief executive officer Nigel Turner and deputy chief executive officer Tim Bye have been appointed to the BMED board with immediate effect. David Richardson will retain his position as chief executive reporting directly to Nigel Turner. All existing non-executive directors of BMED have today resigned their positions.

Nigel Turner, chief executive officer of the bmi group, said: “Bringing BMED into the bmi group creates a business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion with substantial growth opportunities. The acquisition enables the bmi group to accelerate its strategy of expansion into medium-haul markets. BMED operates to 17 destinations in 16 countries and has no overlap with any current bmi route. Many of these destinations have restricted access to the market due to existing bi-lateral agreements. Synergies include BMED’s Heathrow base and the fact that it operates IAE engined Airbus A320 and 321 aircraft in a two class configuration.

“BMED has a first class workforce and they will be welcomed into the bmi group and we look forward to working with them to rebuild the business after some difficult times over the past few months. In the short term we plan for the business to continue to operate as it does today with no immediate changes to network or structure. A comprehensive review of the business will take place over the next 30 days.”

An agreement has been reached with British Airways that will see the franchise agreement and any other commercial agreements that exist with them continuing for a transitionary period until the end of the summer 2007 timetable

:ok:

[moist]

The only thing that's apparent that there's bread in the company and that they are happy shoppers at the top.
baby investment in metal will have to begin soon if we are to carry on flying the programme at all......:D

[Fargoo]

BMED hold £30 million investment talks with M1 Group
The Directors of BMED, the franchise partner of British Airways, announce that they are in advanced talks with a UK based investor group which may lead to a change in the Company’s ownership accompanied by a £30 million investment designed to reduce BMED borrowing and fund the airline’s ongoing expansion.

The investor group includes a subsidiary of M1 Group which has investments in a number of European countries including the UK, Switzerland and Monaco, and in Lebanon. M1 Group’s business interests include property, telecoms, oil and gas and aviation. M1 Group is controlled by members of the Mikati family, one of Lebanon's most prominent business groups.

Under the proposed transaction, which has yet to be finalised and is subject to contract, due diligence and the approval of BMED shareholders, it is envisaged that BMED and the investor group will enter into an agreement which will provide for an investment of £30 million in return for majority control of the airline. The Directors of BMED are hopeful that they will be in a position to put firm proposals to shareholders later this month. As a demonstration of good faith, the investor group has advanced £3m to BMED by way of a term loan to help meet the immediate liquidity requirements of the company.

David Richardson, Chief Executive of BMED, commented: “It is no secret that the war in Lebanon and the upsurge in jet fuel prices impacted hard on BMED’s bottom line. During recent months the Board, advised by Rothschild, has considered a range of strategic options designed to restore the Company to profitability and has held discussions with a number of interested parties. While the proposed transaction is severely dilutive of present shareholders’ interests, the Board is confident that the proposal, albeit yet to be finalised, is in the airline’s best long-term interests.”

BMED will issue a further statement in due course.



Strange how this was issued a bit back, does British Midland form part of the "M1 Group" ? Thought there was some North African money on the table?

[apaddyinuk]

Well this is my take on it,
BMI are trying to position themselves as a medium-longhaul airline as they can no longer compete with the locos under their current business plan. I suppose buying Bmed is a logical move for them as that means they do not need to worry about expanding, its all done for them already.

Unfortunatley however, BA now lose their presence in these countries and considering the volitile nature of many of the countries involved and the fact that the majority could not support two carriers I seriously doubt we will see areturn of BA or a franchise into them! Also the strict bilateral rights with many of the countries also prevents further competition.

However, Bmed have not been the most profitable of airlines and BMI seems to be in limbo as to where its going in the industry...could this just be a desperate attempt at regaining market share?

[flying brain]

Seems apaddyinuk you are spot on in your market take according to the latest release.


'' BMI’s acquisition of control of British Airways (BA) franchise partner British Mediterranean (BMed) provides the group with a string of new routes to Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with no overlap to its existing route structure.


BMI, already with a strong presence in the domestic and European market, has over the last couple of years developed its network from London Heathrow into the Middle East and Russia. It has introduced routes to Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and a service to Moscow in co-operation with Transaero, with ambitions to further develop its medium-haul network.


In today announcing a deal to acquire control of BMed, BMI chief executive Nigel Turner says it enables the group to accelerate its strategy of expansion into medium haul routes.


BMed operates a network of 17 destinations out of Heathrow to Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The destinations include: Yerevan in Amenia; Baku in Azerbaijan; Tbilisi in Georgia, Tehran in Iran; Almaty in Kazakstan, Bishkek in Kyrgystan; Ekaterinburg in Russia, Ankara in Turkey; Amman in Jordan, Beirut in Lebanon and Damascus in Syria.


It also serves several points in Africa, including Alexandria in Egypt; Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; Dakar in Senegal, Freetown in Sierra Leone and Khartoum in Sudan. BMI currently operates no flights to Africa in its own right.
Turner also notes the synergies between the two include both carriers being Airbus IAE V2500-powered narrowbody aircraft operators. BMI currently operates 28 Airbus aircraft, predominantly comprising A320 family aircraft, on its mainline services''


ATI

[flying brain]

Maxnightstop

Under the new investment and the stated BMI plans, BMED staff appear to have a future and therefore I make the assumption that employment is secure even if job titles may change.

Maybe with the 5 A321 on order for BMED there is also a future for the excess BMI Captains.

Time will, of course, be the only true judge.

[speedmarque]

Without the BA franchise for the last 10 years I very much doubt there would have been a BMED for you to work for. :}

Looking forward to seeing an A321 in full BMI livery though as there have been none so far.

[flying brain]

Speedmarque is right in terms of franchise partnership, but that franchise could have been structured with any one of several airlines and in many different ways - including the BMI acquisition as we have witnessed this afternoon.

[BMED10year]

not really ungrateful - but BA and taken plenty off us in the last few years - time to go our separate ways, put it all behind us and start again with a new business partner.

[llondel]

How much does it cost to repaint eight A32x aircraft then? I assume they'll need a paint job in October, if not before. I assume there's also downtime associated with it that can't necessarily be combined with other servicing.

[Middle Seat]

eh, they'll likely not paint over all of them before the transition. They're more likely to slap some labels on them until they can rotate them through maintenance or a paint shop. Happens frequently with seasonal leases and mergers.

[antonovman]

The new company is going to be called British Medland :D

[Cyrano]

Strange how this was issued a bit back, does British Midland form part of the "M1 Group" ? Thought there was some North African money on the table?

BMed's talks with the M1 group ended some weeks ago without agreement and at the time BMed indicated they had widened the set of prospective investors with whom they were talking. Evidently bmi came along at that stage. So no, British Midland does not have anything to do with the "M1 Group".

[uncle dickie]

And how many LHR slots does BMed bring to the new owners ?:rolleyes:

[lostinBRU]

And how many LHR slots does BMed bring to the new owners ?
And the point of your pithy, articulate and erudite question is????????
Try a search or a bit of reading. Of course, if you have something constructive to add or a point to make for the good people of BMED/BMI, we await with eager anticipation.
If you really can't be arsed, try multiplying the number of aircraft with an integer between 0 and 2.;)

[Aerial Anarchist]

owning a BA franchise in the past few years has amounted to certain doom!
How the old fashioned bunch from Castle Don can expect success here is extremly worrying.

[stormin norman]

I was told the present owners of BMED had plenty of money in their own banks to keep the company going but were not prepared to put in good money after bad.I'm afraid the good days of Hetherington and Rowley(both great guys) have well and truely gone.
I wish everyone well for the future,your a great bunch.

[False Capture]

Former BA franchise airlines / subsidiaries:
Air Liberte
CityFlyer Express
Base Airlines
Deutsche BA
National Jets Italia
Maersk Air UK
Brymon
British Regional Airlines Limited
Manx Airlines
British Mediterranean

Current BA franchise airlines:
Comair
GB Airways
Loganair
Sun Air of Scandinavia

Ten down, four to go.:uhoh:

p.s. This doesn't include British Airways Regional (BAR) or Go

[Dozza2k]

well bmi can't afford to paint all of their existing fleet in their 'new' colours so I wonder whether they will with the bmed a/c? granted they can't keep them flying in BA colours.

[Sonic Cruiser]

BMED have 08 Aircraft so say even that they have 07 slot pairs at Heathrow per day and the going rate for slots when Qantas bought some a few years back was 05 million someone in BMI has got themselves a bargain.

At the going rate of £5 Million a slot then the slots alone could be worth £70 million, and BMI paid £30 million for the whole lot!!!!

[stormin norman]

Slots are great, but you need paying passengers to fill aircraft to use them !

[G-LOST]

Dozza2k

bmi can afford to repaint aircraft and is doing so when each aircraft goes in for scheduled heavy maintenance, however some aircraft are earmarked for disposal, so why bother?

norman

The airline really operates as a slot owning entity. Unfortunately, you need to run an airline to qualify for ownership, otherwise you lose them. bmi will operate empty if necessary to protect them. The airline business is a necessary evil and I long gave up worrying about the way it is run. Someone has done the maths and is quite satisfied with the way it muddles along...

[Tamer]

Is it not bmi's way to keep each company as a seperate entity, bmi, bmi baby, bmi regional. Each having its own management, recruitment, handlers etc.. However as BMed have the same fleet as mainline share engineering etc.. thus getting round the problem of integrating the work force from middle management down.

[Tamer]

'The BMED and BMI's crew will be integrated by the end of summer. BMED eventually will not exist. That's the whole point of the buy-out'


I agree that BMED will not exist, but my point is how Bishop will use his new company. Will it be kept as a seperate entity with its own AOC post holders ? (Like Baby and Regional) He can then control costs in the new airline, wont have the hassel of intergrating work force.

[flying brain]

Quoted

"I'm afraid the good days of Hetherington and Rowley(both great guys) have well and truely gone.
I wish everyone well for the future,your a great bunch."

Indeed, second that, and add Parry, Seed and the original team whose sweat capital created the airline and the investor relationship.

[lostinBRU]

It's the route licences as well that BMED own. E.G. Azerbaijan allows 7 uk flights per week and BMED have the lot so even if BA wanted to fly the route out of LHR, they can't, because there is no extra capacity.

Whether pax would continue to use us after we lose the BA flag is another matter entirely........... but under the banner of the Star Alliance and you guys, I would remain optimistic:)

A significant part of our business is picking up transatlantic pax at LHR and taking them to their final destination, hence BA's interest in us to get a chunk of their entire journey and not just the bit across the pond. Again, hopefully the Star Alliance can continue to let that happen.......... And maybe even BA would continue to code share to allow them to keep whatever part of the journey they can?

A330's on our longer routes would be not only great for us, but more importantly, for our passengers..... It's the one feedback point that comes back time and time again....... Our business passengers pay shed loads for their tickets and they just hate the single aisle..... And we'll be able to get all the bags in! Nothing pisses the customer off more than to arrive without their bags after a day and a half of travelling.....

Is your baggage handling any better than BAA/BA at LHR?

The service at LHR is appalling :ugh: I'm sure that in any other sphere of business, BA/BAA' ground running of LHR would/should have seen them bankrupt. It has been another nail in BMED's coffin recently, BA continuing to take our money for such appalling service and do cock all about it.

In terms of crew mergers into seniority lists...... you can make up your own scenario there.

Undoubtedly there will be winners and losers; there always are.

However, I think there maybe some bright points for you guys to consider;

1. A lot of more mature guys joined BMED (myself included) because of the prospect of a quick command. (1-2 years). We expanded at 1 a/c a year over the last few years creating lots of opportunities. Now that has stopped, I'm convinced that a lot of those who got stuck on the wrong side of the fence may well re-evaluate their postion. A lot travel a fair distance for our pseudo-long haul lifestyle and if that prospect has gone then they may well look more closely at lifestyle/geographic issues and choose to leave. They could, for instance, be happy to transfer to a BMI regional base, creating opportunities for those in BMI curious to try something just a little different!

2. A lot of our younger guys may well decide that they should look again at BA/Virgin/Emirates/Cathay etc.

3. We have a significant number of BA retirees who came at 55, some on embarrasing amounts of pension....... they may well decide that this is one change to many and get on their gold plated bikes;)..... and make more opportunities..........

In all, I think there is a lot to be positive about on both sides of the fence!

Finally, if I may, a couple of questions;

I read elsewhere that BMI has a surplus of Captains. Fact or fiction? If so, why so?

As a naive BALPA member, I thought they published industry wide pay scales:confused: Am I blind or does anybody know where they are? I've suddenly got very curious;)

[gpilot]

Just wondered - aren't a lot of the BMED routes actually BA routes which BMED operates on behalf of, and not merely a fancise operator?

I'm thinking of Tehran, Baku, Amman...... all these until a few years ago were BA main routes operated by B777. Who actuallu 'owns' the route licences?

Maybe BA will take them back and operate themselves again?

[False Capture]

Tehran, Baku, Amman...... all these until a few years ago were BA main routes operated by B777 .... maybe BA will take them back and operate themselves again?

Definitely not on the B777.:mad:

[lostinBRU]

BMED has all the route licences and that is what the BMI board found attractive...... not just the slots.........

That said, no matter what you think of BA, they do have world wide customer appeal.

e.g. Wealthy Iranians preferred, in large numbers, to pay to fly business class on a 321 rather than the state owned 747...... and not just for the beer....... I just hope that the Star Alliance will have the same clout.

We got the gig with these routes because BA couldn't make a profit on them. With some of their archaic union agreements for allowances, I don't think they could today either.

[lostinBRU]

Why the :mad: ???
Care to explain? I don't see enough business for a 777 true, but why the reaction?

[False Capture]

Didn't mean to upset you, but I'd rather go to nice places in the Carribbean, China and India.


no smilies this time because I don't want to offend anyone.

[lostinBRU]

Just curious, I thought you may have some insider knowledge to bring to the fore!

Methinks you may have been a tad spoilt with your flights:)

Come and join us and see the real world;)

[goldeneye]

Well done on bmi for getting a great deal. Good luck for all the guys at BMED with there new owners. Think this will work fairly well if bmi keep most of the routes which im sure thet will, plus with connections coming in from the States and Canada connecting on with a Star Alliance carrier to many of the oil areas of central asia im sure this will work.

[LHRKLBD]

Just wanted to post A hello to all of the BMED guys and girls out there.
Can't wait to get to dispatch to all of these cool places.

beats doing a leeds or manchester.

[Redline747]

the dispatchers job is certainly an interesting one with us, lots of deportees and the like. You will also get lots and lots of assistance requests and wheelchair passengers. You will see what i mean when we start working together!

[lostinBRU]

About the piss poor availability of Hi-Lifts at LHR is that when told that they face a wait of one hour or more, some of our "frail" pax undergo miraculous recoveries of Biblical proportions.........

Often making off like Linford Christie up the airbridge...........:)

[LHRKLBD]

Well it probably won't be much different than all the wheelchairs that come off out Jeddah and RUH flight.

Roll on summer 07

[Redline747]

as the last guy said, the miraculous cures we get are amazing, wheelchair requests are seen as a quick way of getting through the terminals and i've had 15 requests before now. hopefully your ground handlers give a damn about doing their jobs, because the BA ones go out of their way to be disruptive and do as little work as possible. they care not a jot as to whether an aircraft leaves on time or even if the pax get their bags at all.

[LHRKLBD]

Our guys are good at getting the guys to the a/c but meeting inbounds is a completely different ball game, although in there defence most of the time there is only 4 of them in.

[myrtleman]

Hi all,

Could someone give me any information about BMED2 which seems to fly to LHR from Cardiff at irregular intervals. The callsign is dissimilar to the usual alphanumber BMED callsigns and the provenance is certainly not a usual BMED one! Any information on what this flight is doing? I've not heard of a BMED 3 / 4 / 5 etc. Do these callsigns exist as well?

Thanks,
MM

[Gonzo]

I imagine it's either crew training, or positioning for maintenance.

[Morrihell]

These flights were regular from the autumn up until new year and have started again in the last fortnight or so. BMED 1-12 for the past 6 out of 7 nights/days and back to BMED 1 last night and BMED 2 back out to Heathrow today.
Most if not all the fleet have now visited Cardiff and do nothing but park on a stand when they are there. G-MEDK was up and down over three days last week and did nothing from the Heathrow end either by the looks of it.
Apart from the fact that it's a fairly regular flight I can't offer any explanation for BMED flying fresh air up and down the M4.
MH.

[LB1985]

Presumably they have some slots they're not using and don't want to lose?

[ForeverFlight330]

LB1985, bingo! Exactly the reason they have a number of flights heading out to Cardiff and returning straight away.

[myrtleman]

Hi all,

Still a bit confused. What do you mean by the fact that they have slots they don't want to lose? Surely if you have secured / paid for your slot it doesn't matter whether you use it or not? Also, is filling a slot time worth the expense involved in flying a plane from LHR to Cardiff and back for no apparent reason? All seems a bit strange to me.

MM

[AlanM]

MM

I think the slot issue is a longer term thing. I don't know the exact details, but if you continually don't use your slots, then I would imagine that BAA would be under pressure from others to give them to someone else.

[Don Coyote]

After cancelling the Tashkent at the end of the summer season BMED did not have enough routes or destinations to use all 8 slots per day. Slots have to be used at least 80% of the time otherwise they are lost and given that they cost in the order of £5,000,000 to purchase then it becomes cost effective to shuttle an empty aircraft for a short period of time.
The good news is that the slot will be used for the correct purpose for the summer schedule.

[Heffer]

I can think of cheaper places to land than CWL!

[mathers_wales_uk]

The aircraft Positions from CWL - LHR daily. The times vary but it is due to keep the slots active otherwise they will loose it. Virgin do the similar but use a light a/c to operate and keep the slot open not a larger one like the BMED.

The a/c leaves CWL anytime between 1200 and 1400 and return at either 1645 or 1045 depends on the days.

There has been a gap in the flight operating due to offices being moved at either BA or by ATC which instructed that no a/c were to take off unless it had to, which saved BMED a bit of money.

Some other times the flight has not operated due to other tech a/c in the fleet, collect baggage thats been left behind at an airport for some reason or other.

With BMI purchasing BMED this may stop very soon and there maybe a flight available for it.

For some reason they don't keep the same callsign, when they call down at CWL it was BMED 2 Tuesday, I've heard BMED 9 when it's come in. How many a/c has BMED got i thought it was only seven or 8.

[MaxRange120]

It looks as if BMED are already having an inhouse effect on inflight service!!!
Following press release has appeared on BMI website today
http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/aboutbmi/presscentre/pressreleases.aspx?year=2007&rid=1096
bmi, London Heathrow’s second largest airline, is to launch a new customer initiative focusing on the business traveller following eight months of consultation and feedback with both customers and staff.
The initiative, which goes live on 2 April, will see the introduction of an improved offering and product for the airline’s most loyal customers – diamond club members. While a paid-for in-flight catering service will remain a feature of mainline services from Heathrow, all diamond club members* will be entitled to complimentary food and drink onboard, priority seating towards the front of the aircraft and will continue to enjoy the benefits of one of the UK’s most generous frequent flyer programmes, through the lounge network and rewards scheme.
Under the new initiative diamond club will see the introduction of a new tier – blue plus – which is automatically awarded once 3,000 status miles have been earned in a 12 month period. Holders of blue plus, silver and gold cards will receive the complimentary in-flight meal as well all other diamond club benefits.
Nigel Turner, bmi chief executive officer, said: “We know that our most important customers are frequent flyers who often travel with us on business – a group that makes up a considerable proportion of our total passengers. They are looking for value for money, friendly welcoming service and want to be recognised and rewarded. Our new initiative delivers on all these points as well as helping to set out the future direction of the company, building on key strengths such as market-leading punctuality and a quick and efficient airport experience.
“Whilst our focus is on the business traveller we will continue to apply our ‘making travelling a pleasure’ ethos to all our passengers, whatever their purpose of travel. Customer feedback shows us time and time again that our people make bmi the preferred choice of airline, and significant investment in ongoing training will ensure that continues to be the case for all our customers.
“The airline industry has been through a period of massive change in the past five years – a process that continues today. By developing and evolving our products and services we can ensure we continue to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers and remain competitive in the marketplace.”
More consolidation to come?
MR120:ok:

[MarkD]

Maybe if Gordon the Thief wants to reduce fuel emissions then rather than imposing his fuel tax madness he could ensure that airlines can use alternative means to retain slots without useless flights of this nature (see also Qantas). Alternatively perhaps BAA could offer hire-in of some fuelsipping prop aircraft whose job it would be to operate these slotholders on behalf of airlines like BMED!

[Superpilot]

Alternatively perhaps BAA could offer hire-in of some fuelsipping prop aircraft whose job it would be to operate these slotholders on behalf of airlines like BMED!

Plenty of Wannabes out there who would grab that opportunity! but I guess the 'slot' needs to be filled by something a bit bigger.

I must say I have never heard of anything more rediculous than this. Wait till the press get a hold of this one! :E

[boredcounter]

Maybe at fully co-ordinated airfields such as LHR, the 'Grandfather rights' to slots need changing. Rather than 80% operation, set a minimum load factor of 20%/100% of the time, based apon your fleet and it's capabilities.
If you cancel a service long term, I presume due lack of revenue earning, there is no revenue being generated by you, or more importantly UK industry of any guise.
I cannot believe, a company begging for a GBP30,000,000 cash injection to keep afloat has a leased(?) A320/1 available to ferry to CWL and back, just to keep a slot better used elsewhere :ugh:
Is BMED's only asset their LHR slots?
With Superpilot on this one, but when the press get a hold, so will Gordan, and whats more, the Greens..................................

[pamann]

Totally agree MarkD
What a total waste of fuel and an addition to the issue's of global warming. Surely the government needs to look at this kind of wasteful empty flying, than to be bothered about a fully laden 747. If it's a case of BAA wanting the slots back if they're not used then shame on you BAA for your efforts towards the governments carbon footprint!

[Sonic Cruiser]

I cannot believe, a company begging for a GBP30,000,000 cash injection to keep afloat has a leased(?) A320/1 available to ferry to CWL and back, just to keep a slot better used elsewhere

Those that work there can quite believe the above from what I hear!!

It sounds like the people that made the sort of decision above are part of the reason why BMED needed a £30 Million bail out!!!!

[Skipness One Echo]

Not a remotely significant anount of pollution. I live near Canary Wharf where if they'd put the lights out in the offices overnight it would help wvwn more......

[WHBM]

I am very happy to come in and out of Heathrow in my PA-28 on the BMed slots for, shall we say, 25% of what it must be costing BMed to do this :)

[Count von Altibar]

As a bmi mainline pilot based at LHR I was wondering what you BMED guys are hearing from your management as we're getting naff-all from our lot but I suppose it's early days. Are many BMED guys jumping-ship reference the bmi thing?

[Don Coyote]

They are still deciding what to do, bmi management not ours, hopefully some more information by the end of next week.

With regards to people leaving, a number of cabin crew have resigned but the flight deck are tending to see which way things go. A large number have stated that they have no interest whatsoever in doing short haul out of LHR as most of us have long commutes.

[LB1985]

WHBM
I am very happy to come in and out of Heathrow in my PA-28 on the BMed slots for, shall we say, 25% of what it must be costing BMed to do this
Sadly not in a PA28 (single engine), but if you can lay your hands on, say, a PA34... :ok:


Just an aside, although it is nice to attribute as much crap as possible to the Bastards Against Aviation, slot allocation is actually down to a separate organisation by the name of Airport Coordination Limited (ACL).

[lostinBRU]

Very little is happening at the coal face. We get the odd snippet that tells us to carry on as we are.

We've just had the summer schedule which is very much "carry on as normal."

There seems to be much happening behind the scenes to try and work out what the hell to do with us, but it all takes time.

Have you ever come home pissed one night and bid for something on Ebay?

Then woke up the next morning and found that yours was the winning bid and thought "what the *&ck am I going to do with that?"

The joke is that is what The Bish' did exactly that one dark night and his minions are now trying to work something out. ;)

Apparantly one BMI wheel has been heard to utter "Kazak...where?"

To be fair to the wheels, it can't be easy; there is no point in rushing things along and they do have a bit of time to devise a plan as we fly the summer season for BA.

As for people leaving, it's not an earth shattering revelation that some are nervous and moving on. Some are more bullish and sitting tight to see what falls out of this. On the pilot front, we haven't seen anything yet beyond what would be deemed to be statistically normal. As you might expect, those most nervous are SFO's who came with the expectation of a quickish command and those down at the bottom of the seniority list.

We do have a significant number of both flight deck and cabin crew who came from BMI who are not perhaps the most optimistic at the moment.

The whole thing is a real shame because things (at the front end at least) were really changing for the better. Quality of life issues such as days off, weekend working, pensions, fatigue, roster stability have all shown great improvements thanks to our CC and a new attitude in management.

But, if you ain't got a working business plan.................. Hey Ho!

[Bishop of Baku]

What me?........................

[Dash-7 lover]

Suppose the whole thing will be run from Castle Donnington in October???

[George Foreman]

WHBM

Quote:
I am very happy to come in and out of Heathrow in my PA-28 on the BMed slots for, shall we say, 25% of what it must be costing BMed to do this

Sadly not in a PA28 (single engine), but if you can lay your hands on, say, a PA34...

So long as you can maintain 180 on base leg and 160 till 4 you'd slot into the LHR traffic pattern quite nicely :) A PA34 could probably achieve the latter but would then need to slow down inside 4. The smallest aircraft I've heard of "exercising" slots is a King Air, under contract to Virgin.

Thankfully the Summer schedule utilises all of the aircraft again.