bmi diamond club - Belfast cabin crew made redundant

I know there was discussion about the at risk status of bmi staff at Belfast City but can't find an update. I was speaking with members of the cabin crew team and they will all lose their jobs in just over two weeks. Apparently BA already have sufficient cabin crew, and of course, they don't actually want to employ anyone directly apart from at Heathrow and Gatwick.

I think this is really sad news. Many will be familiar with the excellent service provided by the crew over many years and their fortitude in dealing with the loss of business class, the introduction and then withdrawl of Blue Plus DC membership, and the various changing elements of the flexible economy service.

Someone at Heathrow told me that a number of the pilots were OK but would commute to Hearhrow from BHD.

All of this is possibly the biggest enhancement bmi has ever had, and I regret that the Belfast staff are going, and are dealing with BA ineptitude remarkably well under the dire circumstances.

Bmifly

Just as a sideline I heard from a friend that BMI pilots pensions have troubles after the takeover .....

They have been told their last flight is 20 August, and obviously some will fly their last flight a few days before that.

Flew earlier this week with some old regulars and have started saying farewells, as my flying will be reduced over the next few weeks.

What a shame to have turned a post about the awful situation faced by Belfast based BMI staff into a whinge about your suitcase.

What a shame to have turned a post about the awful situation faced by Belfast based BMI staff into a whinge about your suitcase.


The point about the suitcase was to reflect the mess BA is making of bmi and demonstrate that while bmi staff remain as helpful as possible even in the current situation, the BA staff transferred to T1 really couldn’t care less.

bmifly

I think this is really sad news. Many will be familiar with the excellent service provided by the crew over many years and their fortitude in dealing with the loss of business class, the introduction and then withdrawl of Blue Plus DC membership, and the various changing elements of the flexible economy service.

agree. The BHD staff were first class. I think the wider knock on effects on BHD/BFS are also going to lead to more losses. BFS is becoming unsustainable as an airport as except for EZY there is no real actor left there come October.

What a shame to have turned a post about the awful situation faced by Belfast based bmi staff into a whinge about your suitcase.

Couldn't have put it better.....

A real shame for some of the the excellent BHD crew, who I'm sure would have been willing to commute like many BA Cabin Crew who live here do. For one or two I could name, not so much......

Never nice to hear about any job losses but I think it was inevitable....BA did the same to their own at GLA/EDI and a few other domestic bases in order to make the routes pay.

As for your awful BA experience....seems to me that was self inflicted.

really, really sorry to hear that our lovely BHD crew have been made redundant. Any update on the BHD lounge staff? :(

Apparently BA already have sufficient cabin crew, and of course, they don't actually want to employ anyone directly apart from at Heathrow and Gatwick.

Speaking to other outstation crew who also are being made redundant, they were all offered £10,000 and the opportunity to join Mixed Fleet, which I think is fair given that British Airways closed down several of their own bases i. e Glasgow due to costing issues.

It was inevitable that there would be redundancies and I do feel sorry for anyone in this position, I agree that £10,000 and a job is fair and is a lot better than ground staff in a similar situation who are being offered less financially and NO job !

The BHD crew are not being offered MF though.

The BHD crew are not being offered MF though.


Sorry, I should have been more clear. They haven't been offered Mixed Fleet, but they have been offered an interview and if successful offered 10k.

Yesterday, I was chatting to some staff at BHD. My understanding is that BA has decided to outsource all of their functions (to Servisair?), so by Christmas, there'll be no bmi/BA employees in Belfast. Only a couple of the current BA/bmi employees are likely to take up new posts and remain in BHD.

I think that it's nearly 25 years since I walked into the British Midland office in the Fountain Centre and bought the first ticket of what has now become almost fortnightly journeys between London and Belfast. Because of their crew on the ground and in the air, for over two decades, bmi has been my first choice for these flights, with Star Alliance picking up all the others that I've to fly. From a BA accounting perspective, I'm sure that the decision to axe all Northern Ireland based staff is sound, but with direct competition from EI starting at the end of this month, I think it says a lot about BA's approach to customer service, that they're content to swap genuinely friendly local faces with outsourced lounge dragons and algorithm following check-in clerks.

I think it says a lot about BA's approach to customer service, that they're content to swap genuinely friendly local faces with outsourced lounge dragons and algorithm following check-in clerks.

Unfortunately that is why BMI was making a socking great loss per PAX and BA is regularly returning a profit!

I'm sure that the decision to axe all Northern Ireland based staff is sound, but with direct competition from EI starting at the end of this month, I think it says a lot about BA's approach to customer service, that they're content to swap genuinely friendly local faces with outsourced lounge dragons and algorithm following check-in clerks.But presumably the faces will be no less local for being employed by servisair (or whichever handling agent BA will use at BHD) rather than directly by BA?
On outsourcing, this has been pretty much the approach of BA at non-hub locations or, frankly, pretty much all other European airlines. As a passenger I do not welcome it as, IME, the quality of the service provided by outsourced staff rarely matches the quality of the service provided by staff directly employed by the airline but that is the price we have to pay for LCC competition and generally lower air fares compared to the pre-liberalisation era.

Unfortunately that is why BMI was making a socking great loss per PAX and BA is regularly returning a profit!Not applicable on the Belfast routes by all accounts though.