bmi diamond club - BD14 / BD18 LHR - GLA Cancelled? General winter cancellations discussion

I have two bookings GLA-LHR-DME-LHR-DME for November.

One of the agencies involved (Terminal A) has just sent me an email that BD18 (last flight from LHR at 21:55) has been cancelled. A quick look at the BD site shows BD14 (21:35 from LHR) also cancelled.

That leaves BD12 at 19:20 as the last flight to Glasgow - completely useless for anybody trying to connect internationally... Personally, it would mean getting the 15:00 from DME which, in turn, would mean leaving the office at noon - completely unacceptable.

I've never taken BD18 but use BD14 regularly in the way back from Moscow and it's always busy, if not 100% full...

Any thoughts? Info?

Aaaarggghhh!!! This would mean switching to BA, no lounge, economy & T5 - I can't face that :(

The fair side of Scotland is suffering too, now that they've scrapped the BD64/BD65.
Last flight north is now the BD62 - leaves LHR at 1850 Tues-Fri+Sun, 1840 on Mon and 1755 on Sat. Makes it a real struggle to get down & back in a single day, or to make any connections. In conjunction with the loss of flights to FRA, Edinburgh is nowhere near as well connected as it was 6 months ago.
Better for business? :mad:

Hmmm - I am booked on the last BD flight of the day from LHR to ABZ (about 8pm) in December.....looks like I should be worried. Then again its just a wee Embraer so perhaps not.

A colleague has just told me they've done the same to DUB...

Usual story of corporate slogans - telling us the oppposite of reality!

Bmi - worse for business:(

It's all rather strange, especially when MAN is suddenly getting the extra evening services that were previously missing in the summer timetable.

I have flew BD14 a number of times and it has always been busy for me too. I don't see how LH can equate their drive for increased profits with discontinuing high-load flights. It's a disaster for UK business but also for connections from far East, now options will be largely restricted to overnight flights or an overnight in environs of LHR :( For East-bound longhaul from GLA EK is likely to become my airline of choice despite there being a single daily flight.

Overnight at LHR is no use to me - I go to Moscow on Monday, back Thursday night... The deal with SWMBO is that I'm only away from home three nights each week. With business in Poland and Denmark, that's been getting progressively harder as flight schedules have been trimmed - now it looks like Moscow will go the same way.

As has been posted, it's a broader disaster for those of us outside SE England. Near & far east flights have nothing with which to connect and it's no longer possible to go to London for the day - even with Ryanair STN-PIK, the lasy flight is now 19:00 and not 21:45 as it had been for years :(

I've just checked Kayak for the same trip (DME-LHR-GLA) on the 3rd December and that is still offering me the 21:35 BD 14...

I'd send an e-mail to customer relations and ask them how exactly you are supposed to get back to GLA or do they still want your business?

Thread merge in order?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/1001815-reduced-winter-timetable-domestic-flights.html

I have just booked - directly on the Bmi website - a return flight from Moscow on 3rd December, using my usual routing.

They offered me a choice of either BD 14 or BD 18 from LHR to GLA (arriving from DME on BM 894).

What is happening? I have, as I was writing this post, received an email from Terminal A confirming that neither BD 14 nor BD 18 exist on the schedules for 19th November...

I have just spent 15 minutes speaking to a very helpful but ultimately powerless and pointless person at Bmi.

BD 18 is, apparently, completely dead.

BD 14, however, is a zombie - dead, yet not dead... It will not operate at all during November but will operate on some days during some parts of December.

What is this nonsense? :mad:

Twice a year, the all the schedules change and we travellers generally win some and lose others - fair enough. Bmi, however, now seem to be saying that they have a winter schedule but will only keep to it if it suits them and, by the way, they won't give any reasonable notice of cancellations.

The options for 19th were not acceptable - neither leaving early nor staying overnight so they have just had a four sector, C class flight cancelled.

Given that they can't be relied upon to stick to their own schedule, I think I will have to cancel all my Bmi bookings.

There has to be a late flight out of Heathrow else there's really no point in using BMI at all for commuting to London. I use BD14 all the time, for day trips and multi day trips to London, and for international connections back to Glasgow when I go abroad with BMI and Star Alliance.

Not good :(

There has to be a late flight out of Heathrow else there's really no point in using BMI at all for commuting to London. I use BD14 all the time, for day trips and multi day trips to London, and for international connections back to Glasgow when I go abroad with BMI and Star Alliance.

Not good :(

That's the problem in a nutshell - and it's the same, apparently, for both Edinburgh and Dublin.

These are busy flights that drive other sales for Bmi - it seems a suicidal business move. As well as exceptionally inconvenient (and irritating because of the short-notice cancellation) it just seems to be bad business.

These late flights were excellent for weekend trips to Scotland. No need to worry about having to work slightly later or getting stuck in delays to the airport. You'd still arrive in the airport with plenty of time to spare for some food in the *A lounge and then a trip across the terminal to see the ancient ruins of the domestic lounge.

BA times seem slightly better than what bmi leaves us with now and there's also the LCY option with them but the late departure of BD14 was ideal.

That's the problem in a nutshell - and it's the same, apparently, for both Edinburgh and Dublin.

These are busy flights that drive other sales for Bmi - it seems a suicidal business move. As well as exceptionally inconvenient (and irritating because of the short-notice cancellation) it just seems to be bad business. Couldn't have put it better myself. I really don't understand what they're playing at with these evening flights. I posted the reply from bmi CS in the other thread linked to above, but it basically seemed to be "sorry but err, that's what's happening". Seems to be their just throwing away easy money and as others have said they seem to be missing a prime opportunity to pull in BA customers annoyed about the lack of lounge.

bmi have lost a fair whack of cash as I've just got a job that means London and back every week now until the end of the year for me.

Pretty much in the middle between LHR and LGW but due to the flight times I'll have to EasyJet it from LGW instead of bmi'ing it from LHR.

I suppose when the pax numbers drop off it give bmi a good reason to can the flights.

I suppose when the pax numbers drop off it give bmi a good reason to can the flights.

Well if that doesn't work, then plan b is to raise prices to well above the market level. Worked well enough for the ex-MAN flights.

Somebody at bmi really needs to do something to these schedules though. You can't service business and connecting passengers with these constricted schedules.

Somebody at bmi really needs to do something to these schedules though. You can't service business and connecting passengers with these constricted schedules.

I think that they really have lost the plot now. Do they even know who their customers are any more?

I am sure that I am not imagining it when I say that half a dozen of the usual suspects on here could do a better job than these so-called professionals. Stem the bleeding, yes, but don't commit commercial suicide in the process.

the thing that annoyed me most (see my other thread) was that BMI camcelled the BD12 which was the last flight on a Saturday with no warning at all.

Anyone on BD13 last night?

As this is now the last flight of the night since BD15 has disappeared the aircraft was completely full as a lot of people (including me) had originally booked on BD15 and were moved to this earlier flight.

I tried to use a GUV at check-in and was told this wasn't possible as the aircraft was entirely economy so that there'd be more seats available. On board there was a curtain, announcements were made about business class but people in the front were sitting in a 3-3 layout (just like in economy or indeed KLM Europe Select).

I was a few rows back from the curtain, but could hear some of what the cabin crew was saying. I twice heard something along the lines of "this is business class so you don't need to pay for drinks". To me it looks like someone didn't tell the cabin crew that the aircraft was operating with a single class of service.

BD15 is showing in the timetables as operating again from December but none of the crew could confidently answer me when I asked whether they were sure that the route wouldn't be cancelled again at short notice.

Lets hope Wolfgang can put some reliability back in this airline.

Anyone on BD13 last night?


BD15 is showing in the timetables as operating again from December but none of the crew could confidently answer me when I asked whether they were sure that the route wouldn't be cancelled again at short notice.

Lets hope Wolfgang can put some reliability back in this airline.

This seems to be the case with a number of these last flights - wiped out during November but re-sprouting in December.

Finale for my personal saga: cancelled the (C-class, GLA-LHR-DME-LHR-GLA) flight with the agent (terminal A) who say it will take 6 to 8 weeks to make a refund - because of the airline.

That means I have made an interest free loan to Bmi of £1,132.50 for around two months and achieved exactly nothing. Oh - and they won't refund their agency fee...

Lets hope Wolfgang can put some reliability back in this airline.

Perhaps he's the probblem, not the solution.

Perhaps he's the probblem, not the solution.

Why? He should have only started work yesterday

Why? He should have only started work yesterday

Give the bloke a chance. He's got a few years of Nigel to critique and undo first....

We're only making plans for Nigel
We only want what's best for him
We're only making plans for Nigel
Nigel just needs a helping hand
And if young Nigel says he's happy
He must be happy, he must be happy,
He must be happy in his world
We're only making plans for Nigel
He has his future in a fist of steel
We're only making plans for Nigel
Nigel's whole future is as good as sealed
And if young Nigel says he's happy
He must be happy, he must be happy,
He must be happy in his world
Nigel is nice spoken and he loves to speak
And he likes to be spoken to
Nigel is happy in his world
Nigel is happy in his world
We're only making plans for Nigel
We only want what's best for him
We're only making plans for Nigel
Nigel just needs a helping hand
And if young Nigel says he's happy
He must be happy, he must be happy,
He must be happy in his world
We're only making plans for Nigel
We only want what's best for him
We're only making plans for Nigel
We only want what's best for him

We're only making plans for Nigel
We only want what's best for him
We're only making plans for Nigel...

Everyone is cursing under their breath,
I'm a passenger,
I feel close to death,
Hopeless situation,
I have no doubt.

Give the bloke a chance. He's got a few years of Nigel to critique and undo first....

And he's got to work alongside him for a month

Read this in the news today:


BMI's future up in the air as firms balk at asking price
Published Date: 03 November 2009
By William Lyons
LUFTHANSA, the German flag carrier, yesterday said it will focus on turning round its loss-making airline BMI as it emerged that potential buyers had failed to agree an acceptable price.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, who joined BMI yesterday and will take over as chief executive in December, will now sit down with the board to restructure the stricken airline.

Analysts say Lufthansa would need to sell the airline for about £500 million
to recover its investment and cover BMI's losses this year. BMI owns about 11 per cent of landing slots at Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, and these have long been considered its greatest asset. But it is understood potential buyers, which include British Airways, have been unwilling to offer anywhere near the £500m price tag. (it continues with more about Ryanair and Easyjet http://business.scotsman.com/transport/BMI39s-future-up-in-the.5788268.jp)

I must say my first thought when reading it was of this thread - if they're losing so much money then why are they cancelling nice profitable routes like the late flights out of LHR?

Read this in the news today

< wonders whether the Scotsman cribs old stories from Flyertalk > (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/766552-lh-takeover-thread-mgt-changes-what-all-might-mean-diamond-club-28.html#post12749075)

Hehe, good point :) I guess sometimes it takes that long for the forward-thinking ideas on here to make it in to the mainstream press! Here's hoping bmi come and have a read at this thread and get some ideas... (I have pointed it out to them in the hope that they do!)

Just to add my voice to the chorus of disapproval about the disappearance of the BD14 - it's one of my staple flights and really the only decently timed 'end of day' London - Glasgow flight. I will sorely miss it if it goes!

I wonder what the value would be of all those late slots from LHR? Presumably some airline will be using them, if slots are at such a premium...