[pixelmeister]

Yup, sad day for BMI and also for UK aviation. There does seem to be a change in the industry of late that is affecting all players. Ryanair are having a hard time North of the border and sound like they could be reducing services. On the one hand the travelling public want lower fares, whilst the government wants an increase in revenue from taxes and duty. Airlines then get hit with hikes in fuel prices, plus wage bills. Something has to give. If we really want mass transit at an affordable price, we need to slash taxation and operate using a fuel system that is not subject to the ever increasing spiral that oil based ones seem to maintain. The alternative is a recognition that air travel is a luxury that will be outside of the reach of many. From a purely logical standpoint, the current position is unsustainable.

In the equation of costs vs price vs product, it is a certainty that if costs are increasing and price cannot be put up to compensate, then the only option is a dilution in product offering (assuming that there are no productivity savings that can be made) . The snag with this is that a diluted product will see a reduction in demand which means reduced income, lower profits etc…

[AndyInSweden]

I noticed today BA is adding new flights LHR-ARN-LHR for the Winter schedule (from 28OCT12). Possibly using slots from BD.

BA 774 LHR ARN 0615-0945
BA 775 ARN LHR 1045-1225

Has anybody noticed additional flights on other routes?

Sorry if this has already been mentioned/discussed in other threads.

[Bucksnet]

There are now 5 flights per day to Hamburg, up from 4.

[Henkel.Trocken]

I was talking to some BD staff in the lounge yesterday. They accept that BA will take over BD but they are not looking forward to it one bit. They believe at present that they are able to offer some degree of personal service to passengers but they see their peers at BA as being disinterested in their jobs and in the main marking time and doing as little as possible. They see themselves being overwhelmed by the BA do as little as possible culture and the people I spoke to are not sure how long they will stay.

[LeTigre]

Looks like BA have already started updating their inventory based on the comments earlier from this thread.

I generally find this website useful as it always displays route changes in a factual and accurate manner, generally quite fast:

http://airlineroute.net/

Can’t wait for tomorrow’s announcement, though I guess it’s a bit early to hope for new long-haul services. Was reading an article on airlineroute earlier about Lufthansa service changes and realised that they not only serve way more good destinations than BA from Frankfurt but increasingly, Munich as well. LH now fly to Incheon and Busan from Munich, which are very sensible routes.

[LPPSKrisflyer]

Flying TXL-LHR on Wednesday I had a similar conversation with the BD crew to one recorded above.

They are glad the uncertainty is over but not looking forward to working for a big company where they see a lot of institutionalised, lazy staff who don’t work to improve anything. They were very glad that if there had to be a takeover it is BA rather than VS but they have been very happy working as part of the LH group and feel that if there had been further integration and more direct management from Cologne and the Hall had been closed a long time ago they would have been far more successful.

I have wondered why LH did not attempt a more direct approach at management, it was obvious to almost everyone where the problems were with BD and they certainly never were on the front line where the staff remain to this day something special.

[FlightDoctor]

This just posted on the BA website:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bmi-information-news-hub/public/en_gb

As a regular traveller to Dublin I’m hopeful that I can start earning Avios and BAEC Tier Points but this is still not clear

[oasis1221]

I hope that with all these great comments and thoughts of which BA is the only benefactor,that few BA senior officials will take some time to read and implement.

Do they really care?

I do not think so!

[BusinessTraveller]

Business Traveller has been sent a copy of the communication being sent out to Diamond Club members today, with more details on what existing members will be offered within BA’s Executive Club scheme:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/diamond-club-and-avios-the-details

[CaptainGaz]

Anyone know what happens to the LHR – DUB route (the busiest intra-European). Does BA start fling again in direct competition with EI? And if not, fare increase no doubt!!!

[RichHI1]

In a time when airlines are not always known for putting loyal passengers first, it does seem BA / IAG, BD and LH have acted very well here and should be congratulated. The opportunity to nickel and dime has been passed over in favour of building continued loyalty. Easy to always complain but I think we should give all parties kudos for this.

[Henkel.Trocken]

RichHI1: I agree 100%.

I was told that the reason for the rapid severence between LH & BD is to do with competition authorities saying BD could not be aligned to both carriers at any point. Seems logical but I’m not sure if it’s true.

[LeTigre]

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/iag-completes-bmi-deal-but-with-unwanted-units-370932/

Seems like a new Asian route is imminent, so who would like to bet?

I say KUL first followed by ICN.

[PatJordan]

A good question, CaptainGaz.

I suggested to the CEO of Aer Lingus that this would be an ideal opportunity to focus on DUB-LHR and target former Gold Circle Club members who may have migrated to BMI (as I did) and current Diamnd Club members who might be very interested in an incentive to return to Aer Lingus.

My idea must be completely barmy because I didn’t even receive an acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

Could it be that Aer Lingus is doing so well that it doesn’t need to to bother doing anything to attract long term customers on this busy route?

[sparkyflier]

Going back to AndyinSweden and Bucksnet, nice to see BA using all these new slots allowing them to start new routes to key, booming destinations in Asia, Africa and South America, to. . . . . Germany and Sweden.

Quite unbelievable, but it being BA, sadly believeable.

[Author]

Posts