Appalling state of Ex-BMI fleet
 

Flew on an ex-BMI A320 to Gibraltar this week and the seats were falling apart. Many were broken and couldn't stay upright.

Commenting on this to crew when they requested the seats be put back upright for takeoff and landing (many being unaware they had inadvertently reclined them) to simply be told these are 'old birds'...

Losing faith in BA's complaints process with submissions from a month ago receiving no reply.

I doubt the aircraft would be fit to fly with falling apart seats. Not sure what comp you expect from a complaint here

actually both can be true. The aircraft can be "fit to fly" and have multiple seats that are in need of repair. Where did the OP mention compensation?

Which aircraft was this ? One of the ex-BMI A320s has just been sent for scrap. Are some of these frames on a minimum maintenance regime pending imminent retirement ?

I get that, some seats could be out of service. OP said “seats falling apart” OK not comp, but OP mentioned complaints process

I've had a couple of ex BMI 319's on a couple of T3 flights (not sure if they rotate through T5 as well) and they did look a bit tired, and I noticed a couple of pax struggling with the seats. In one case it seemed that the seat would not go fully upright, and the other pax was trying to explain to the person behind. I also heard the in flight lead making some comment about it being ex BMI and a "rogue" plane- though I did not hear the comment that prompted it. On the plus side there are still middle seat consoles for placing drinks, which I find to be a considerable advantage.

I know it might not be common around these parts, but people do sometimes complain in the hope that some positive change will follow, rather than just to get a handful of Haribos thrown at them...

(Although I guess part of the reason it's not that common on here is because very few of us expect any positive change right now :()

the issue with these aircraft has also been spares. Different seats to the rest of the fleet, different curtain dividers, tray tables etc. always had the feeling that the interiors are very much nursed along.

I had one of these permanently reclined seats a couple of months ago. Meant to complain but never got around to it.

Surely when they are in the B, C, D or F seats they are impeding evacuation from other seats? Am
always surprised this isn’t seen as more of issue, given the lengths cabin crew go to to secure the cabin. Maybe it’s ok on these aircraft because the pitch is still a bit above the bare minimum.

G-MIDO

Legroom seemed worse than on a standard BA aircraft as well.

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A number of seats on these ex-BMI aircraft are broken in the sense that they are incapable of staying upright when passengers sit in them.

Either BA isn't aware...or they are aware and hoping nobody notices. Either way, BA needs telling.

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I was on G-VIIE in Jan this year, panels fell off 1A within minutes of me taking my seat like I was sat in a clown car. Crew were absolutely aghast it had been allowed to stay in service - so yeah, I can very much relate to seats falling apart

I was on one of these recently, inner window pane slightly dislodged from the frame, seat pockets broken and safety card falling out when brushed past, coat hooks broken off...

A lot of large company's complaints processes these days seem more interested in offering you compensation to quickly "resolve" the complaint, instead of properly investigating it.

I had a frustrating experience with a bank recently, I made a complaint because I wanted to advise them of a broken process. At first they even tried to dismiss my complaint entirely with some scripted nonsense like "I'm unable to agree to your complaint" but when I said that's not acceptable she quickly offered a £200 "goodwill gesture" if I could confirm I accept that resolves my complaint. Foolishly I took the money, I should have rejected it and said I just want my complaint investigated.

MIDO was one of the 3 mid-haul configured planes (the so-called ‘Moscow’ configuration) which had 5 rows of 2+2 armchair seats at the front of the cabin. These were removed in the Lufthansa-ownership era (2011ish ?) and replaced with Lufthansa-style shorthaul seats.

Rather ironic that BA’s failing seats are the doings of a major competitor. German engineering, eh ? :D

No wonder Lufthansa decided to sell them as they were probably too old. And who was the buyer? The premium airline, BA :D