B.m.i. Announcement Next Week!!!

[flymeagain]

:eek:I have it on very good auth, that B.M.I are going to be making a very big announcement at the begining of next week. I heard that it could be the sale of either mainline to L.H. or or bmi baby, but considering how well the latter is doing it look's more likely to be the first!! Anyone shed anymore light on the subject?

[Baggy]

If true thats an awful lot of german control on UK Airlines accross the board !!

[fast cruiser]

I bet the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT is just the new routes for
bmi baby out of Cardiff!!!!!!!!

[fokker70]

My money would be on the sale to LH. LH have never forgiven BA for setting up DBA in their back yard, taking a bigger share in BD makes sense - LHR slots, UK coverage etc. BD are now on the LH Check in and Res system - BD/LH already have a profit share arrangement on all LHR and MAN BD departures so LH being in the driving seat regarding routes, frequencies, slots sounds logical to me. What about regional ? Is there really a place for this part of the business? Change it all to Baby ? Sell it ? Maybe this is the big news!:)

[ETOPS773]

Well..its not such a bad thing Baggy.
Lufthansa are a superb airline and will make BMI a VERY successful company in the long term.
Plus they can share planes like Air 2000 and Canada 3000 used to do,so that A330 can do some more work...

[Baggy]

ETOPS,

I agree with you entirely !! After all I do work for them...

[Yellow Sun]

Then again Lufthansa could make the same "success" of bmi as KLM have done at AirUK

YS

[Caledonian]

heard a rumour that BM may operate from Prestwick but dont know if thats BM mainline or BMI Baby, anyone else heard that one????

[bjghi3]

I know that behind the scenes there has been some talk between the US and UK authorities about letting British Midland flying from LHR to a few cities in the US, in return for opening LHR to another US carrier. In other words a mini deal. It might very well be the "major announcement" or that they are expanding from MAN. Another possibility is that it will be announced that they are starting a non USA long haul route from LHR. Perhaps Lagos. I dont believe that the "announcement" is a pending sale. The international air agtreements etc. would be a major problem from LH operating from LHR. The same problems that BA faced when trying to merge with KLM. More will be revealed.....

[Max Angle]

Have it on pretty good authority from someone high up that we have now sold the A330 that has been sitting at Tolouse to Emirates. That was the fourth aircraft, if we are about to start something out of LHR then I can't see why we would sell an aircraft. Also, very third hand, I hear LH where at the Hall looking at the books a few weeks ago so who knows.

[Joe Curry]

>>heard a rumour that BM may operate from Prestwick but dont know if thats BM mainline or BMI Baby, anyone else heard that one????<<

BM's Scottish base is GLA, I think it might require brain-wash removal
techniques to shift ops to PIK.? :(

If LH are assuming a more dominant role, the rumours might be correct.
But taking into account PIK's relative remoteness, I doubt the field will be an obvious Scottish choice.. :(

Think about it....can anyone survive MOL's reciprocation.:eek:

[Electric Sky]

I have heard from many sources that bmi cannot be majority owned by a non UK company and maintain the number of slots that they possess at LHR. For years BM have been rumoured to be selling up .... it used to be that Branson was "looking at the books" and now it's LH. If there is an announcement next week, past history shows that it will be nothing as dramatic as a buyout. Probably Cardiff Baby routes or transatlantic.

ES ;)

[Wibble Hatstand]

Yawn.

Expect the usual hysterical buid up to announce a new brand of nuts in economy or some such.

*sigh*

These BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS are rarely that - I can count 5 of them in the last 3 months. What were they about? No-one knows!

Don't hold your breath....

[MaximumPete]

Yeah!

The number of Biiiiiig announcements peaked in the mid 80s but then dropped off. Looks like they are back on the increase.

Bit like the ice-age and global warning I suppose?

MP

[Grotehaasje]

Exciting news from bmi

bmi plan to announce that they will, in future, abide, unreservedly, with the terms and conditions of the pilot's and cabin crew contracts.

This is a giant step for bmi; they have decided to join the rest of the world in the 21st century and instead of treating their most valuable assets with utter contempt plan to involve them in the decision making processes.

A spokesperson is likely to say that the voices of reason and common sense have finally been heard. the spokesperson will say:

" We have finally realised that what our pilots have been telling us for years is true.

We have to accept that the bleedin' obvious is, more often than not, the way forward.

In fact, our pilots have, in the recent past, warned us about the costs and drawbacks of all the measures we introduced at an enormous cost. We regret that we ignored them as they have been shown to have been 1000% correct.

In the future we plan to treat our pilots with the utmost respect;they are after all, senior managers in the company"

They will say " As an immediate measure we plan to move our advertising from behind the clock at Manchester Airport. We now realise that Bob Shaw was prescient when he told us that it would be ineffective. Bob, please come back we need chaps like you.

We plan to introduce a revolutionary automated crew scheduling system, which we know works and does not produce schedules which are inconsistent with CAP 371 and the AFS. This major new initiative will have us all jumping for joy. The ACROBAT system has been developed in consultation with one of our most highly regarded pilots, Captain Brian Bradley. Brian has spent several months perfecting this system and we are pleased to announce that inrecognition of his extra and above services Brian will be presented with a Pride in our Performance BMW 5 series of his choice.

Additionally, we have, in retrospect deciced that Barney's holiday should be paid for by the company; indeed he can have the spare A330 for a month, go wherever he likes and we will pick up the bill.

This is the face of the new, Investors in People bmi"

The spokesman will further add " We do ,however, draw the line at giving Captain Leslie his job back as we were ordered to that by a completely independent tribunal who noticed that we lived in the Dark Ages and that our behaviour was unreasonable. We just have to hold on to some of our ancient prejudices. Tradition and all that"

[no-idea]

I understand that it's likely to be the formal separation of bmi Regional into a stand-alone company that can subsequently be floated in a couple of years time

[No 1]

I heard a rumour that BMI was an airline!! Not sure how much truth there is in it!!

[phd]

Joe Curry

I was not aware that bmi had a Scottish 'base' or that it was at Glasgow. If you are referring to bmi regional, which is indeed the Scottish part of the bmi empire, then its base is in Aberdeen. I would check your information sources as they seem to be defective.

[MaximumPete]

Hasn't Barney had his holiday yet??

[Grotehaasje]

Ah, Pierre, mon brave,
Barney may have had his holiday but who paid for it?

LAnding a 737 at Luton when you have pas de huile dans les reacteurs and you display consumate skill above and beyond and you save the company form being an ex-company surely deserves some recognition?

[VIKING9]

If Regional move away from BMI and become independant, will it be called Business Air ? Could they survive without BMI's arm around it :confused:

[Bash]

bmi regional is already a Ltd Company. British Midland Regional Ltd trading as bmi regional. It has an AOC and a complete stand alone management structure based in Aberdeen. It leases aircraft and crews from bmi and operates routes for bmi. It also buys certain services such as maintenance and payroll from bmi. I'm no corporate expert but I don't think a company of bmir size that does not actually own a lot of assets could be floated, (assuming you mean a public stock offer). However, it could be sold tomorrow if the holding company wanted and a buyer existed.

It's actually a strong company with a record of growth and survival. It might fetch a good price but not in the current market. Still got a few equipment problems to sort out as well. Anyone got a few million they want to invest? Might get a bargain now and make a killing in a few years time.

It's bmi baby that has a lot to do before it can be sold. Surely that is where the dramatic changes will come if there are any. Personally I'd bet on a bit of a damp squib.

[mdb3]

This thread was started last week, and called "bmi announcement next week", well it is next week now and I have been reliably informed that the big announcement, will now be made next week. So shouldn't the name of the thread be changed to "bmi big announcement in the next fortnight, or whenever"

[BryanC123]

I have it on good authority that an announcement will be made to change BMIs name to BMI and not BMI british midland as it is currently known. The British Midland is to be dropped. Simple as that.......................:D

[Tower Ranger]

Is there any truth in the rumour that BMI are to cut back one rtn lhr-bfs and contract out ground handling at bfs for the winter schedules?

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Phd - could be you that's a little confused here...... Don't mistake the term "base" for "head orifice". If indeed they are referring to BMIR They do have a base in GLA..... The orifice remains in ABZ.

:D :D :D

[Buster the Bear]

How about Flybmi!

[ajamieson]

Might the announcement be to do with the cabin crew changes currently being pushed through?

Just got this press release from the T&G on behalf of BASSA.

PR02/305
For immediate release - Wednesday 24th July 2002
Newsdesks: transport and industrial correspondents
Strike threat at UK's second largest airline
BMI, formerly British Midland Airways, potentially faces a massive
disruption to its schedules if its cabin crew vote in favour of industrial action. The British Airlines Stewards & Stewardesses Association (BASSA) is now conducting a consultative ballot, the first stage in the process, as tension between its members and the company's management reaches an all-time high. A branch of BASSA was created at the airline a year ago and has grown to become the largest cabin crew union at BMI. Despite this the company has refused to recognise the union and threatened disciplinary action to anyone recruiting for BASSA during working time. This has only served to stimulate membership of BASSA, which is part of the Transport & General Workers' Union, as crew have fought back against a background of a sustained attack
on their working conditions, increased duty hours and harsh treatment by managers.

"Cabin Crew have simply had enough," said a BASSA spokeswoman. "They expect their choice of union to be recognised and respected in the same way as our sister branches at British Airways and other airlines."

The latest plan by BMI to axe its top flying rank of Flight Service Manager (FSM) has brought matters to a head. The company claims that there are new jobs available as well as other opportunities. "BMI is being totally disingenuous when it talks about new jobs, as none have been remotely suitable for flying staff and nor are they likely to be. What is more, the Company has continued to recruit brand new cabin crew members," said BASSA.

BASSA has made it clear that it will strenuously oppose any compulsory redundancies of senior crew. "We expect the company to do the honourable thing by providing a Flight Supervisor position with ring-fenced pay or compensation to any FSMs who lose their jobs in this restructuring. The seniority levels at bmi are already very low compared to other airlines and the airline can ill afford to be getting rid of experienced crew who do a
lot to make the skies a safer and more pleasant place to be."

The fate of the FSMs is expected to be known by the end of the week. The ballot results will not be counted until the beginning of August. If members vote in favour, BASSA will apply for authority to hold an official industrial action ballot. If industrial action does go ahead, the airline's main bases of London, Manchester and East Midlands could be affected during the busy summer timetable as well as shorthaul and prestigious longhaul flights to the United States.

"It is sad to see the situation deteriorating in this way. Management seem unable to understand the anger and depth of feeling amongst the crew at BMI," concluded the BASSA spokesman. "Our demands are not unreasonable. We are simply calling for the recognition we deserve as the majority cabin crew
union and for BMI to guarantee flying jobs to its senior crew hreatened by the restructuring process. We are still hoping for a negotiated settlement before any further action becomes necessary."

ENDS
Notes to Editors: Flight Service Manager positions are to be replaced by a lesser number of Cabin Service Performance Manager posts on 1 August, displacing crew who have flown for BMI for many years - effectively ending their flying careers. BMI is a privately owned UK airline with 40% foreign ownership being split between Lufthansa and SAS.

[alterego]

Bash

My dear chap, how can you say that Regional is a strong company with a record of growth? You were instrumental in securing the redunancy of 40 -50 pilots and many cabin crew.

An announcemnet from BMI is probably more to do with Baby out of Cardiff or the sale of mainline to LH.

A big Regional announcement would be if WH actually went on one of his aircraft or Paul got a passport!

[Hap Hazard]

"B.m.i. Announcement Next Week!!!"............
Now lets see, would that be this week or possibly next week, or the week after next week, or maybe next week after next week?:p

[Flightrider]

My bet is on the following:

- Remaining routes from EMA to be handed over to bmi baby (it is no coincidence that baby has already announced service to most of the same destinations from Cardiff, viz EDI, GLA, JER, BFS). This will mean baby gets another four 737s and surplus Airbus capacity will cover the LHR routes to release the 737s to baby.

- Possible order for small Airbuses in the pipeline so that LHR can become all Airbus operation and floated off in the direction of 100% Lufthansa ownership.

- Warning about financial results for this year, which are apparently pretty grim. Yields on LHR services have tumbled after the new pricing policy was introduced and there has not been a significant growth in passenger numbers to offset the yield drop. MAN long-haul continues to lose money (as I think everyone would reasonably expect it to, given that it is only the second year of operation).

- Fokker 100s to be phased out asap.

- Embraer 145s released from East Midlands will move to take over EDI and GLA to CPH (but done properly instead of hacking about with a Fokker 100 double-drop between the two); and will also be used for some modest frequency growth on existing routes from MAN and LBA.

Let's see how much of the above actually comes good in their announcement.

[Ringwayman]

Flightrider's first bet has come true.

See here. (http://www.flybmi.com/presscentre/currentpr.asp?Job=View&ArticleID=285&Page=./currentpr.asp)

[Little Blue]

:( :( :(
Bang go the "friends and family" deals !!
:( :(