Addio bmi, bentornata British Midland?

[sevs17]

BMI to cut further 800 jobs as restructure continues
Daniel Thomas 14 April 2010 08:52


BMI is to cut 800 jobs as part of its ongoing restructure aimed at saving the struggling airline £100m a year.

The Lufthansa-owned company, which has more than 4,100 staff, has suffered badly during the recession.

It made a £155.6m loss in 2008 and the result for 2009, when passenger numbers fell by a fifth to 7.9 million, is expected to be slightly worse, reports the Times.

Of the 800 staff who are to lose their jobs, 670 have been notified or are already gone. BMI has already cut 750 jobs and announced the closure of its final salary pension scheme to existing members.

Unprofitable routes have also been cut and the fleet reduced from 39 to 29 aircraft to reflect the fall in demand. This has resulted in a reduction in capacity of between 20% to 25%.

TH REVAMP WILL ALSO SEE THE RETURN OF THE AIRLINE'S FORMER NAME - BRITISH MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL.

http://www.personneltoday.com/artic...urther-800-jobs-as-restructure-continues.html

 

[Blitz]

Una bella stangata...
spero comunque che pur cambiando nome mantengano la livrea, che tra i "legacy carriers" europei è la mia preferita assieme a quella di KLM

 

[Stefanopv]

La livrea, almeno per come la vedo io, è assolutamente stupenda

 

[malpensante]

BMI broadens its horizons after successful restructuring

By Pilita Clark, Aerospace correspondent
Published: April 14 2010 03:00 | Last updated: April 14 2010 03:00


A sweeping restructuring programme has put BMI British Midland on track to halve its losses this year, its new chief executive said yesterday. He added that there were currently no plans to break up the struggling airline.
Speculation that the loss-making UK airline, which is owned by Germany's Lufthansa, might be dismembered or sold off rose last year after its auditors cast doubt on its ability to continue as a going concern.
However, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, the Austrian appointed to run BMI late last year, said it would remain in one piece. The group runs a long-distance international operation plus a UK regional subsidiary and the low-cost carrier BMIbaby.
"We have no intention of breaking up BMI. It will be here to stay," Mr Prock-Schauer told reporters in London, in his first interview since taking up his role at the carrier in December.
Mr Prock-Schauer said BMI was already planning to boost flights to continental Europe and potentially North America, although this was only an option at this stage.
He added that he could not rule out a possible sale of BMI at some point in the future, given the constantly changing state of the aviation industry.
"To say now the door is shut forever would be not right because there are so many combinations going on," he said.
"Right now, the focus is on restructuring and then we'll see what kind of opportunities arise later. We want to create a valuable asset for the Lufthansa group and the owner can always then make the assessment of what to do with this asset."
Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, has frequently expressed interest in BMI, which holds around 10 per cent of the take-off and landing slots at London's Heathrow airport, the highest number of any airline after BA.
Mr Prock-Schauer confirmed that, as part of its recovery plans, BMI had sold a number of slots to other airlines in the Lufthansa group, which recently acquired Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines, having taken over Swiss in 2005.
Virgin Atlantic, the long-haul carrier founded by Sir Richard Branson, has also said it was in talks with Lufthansa about the future of BMI.
But Mr Prock-Schauer said no talks were taking place at present as the group focuses on a £100m restructuring plan aimed at turning the carrier around after it suffered a £156m loss in 2008 and an even worse deficit in 2009.
The plan involves 800 redundancies, cutting the aircraft fleet by 10 and eliminating unprofitable routes. While a pay freeze has been negotiated with BMI's pilots, Mr Prock-Schauer said he was still in talks with unions representing other staff members, which he described as "very constructive".
"Generally speaking, we see a lot of support from our employees," said Mr Prock-Schauer. "They believe this company can make it and they are ready to make sacrifices."


Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010

 

[malpensante]

APRIL 13, 2010, 1:25 P.M. ET.

BMI Around for the Long Haul, CEO Says

By KAVERI NITHTHYANANTHAN

The Wall Steet Journal

LONDON -- British Midland Airways Ltd., or bmi, "is here to stay," the airline's chief executive said Tuesday, adding there is no intention to break up the carrier.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, who took the post as chief executive in November and is tasked with returning the airline to profit, said losses in 2009 would be worse than the pretax loss of £157.3 million in 2008, but a restructuring program would help halve those losses in 2010.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG was a reluctant buyer of bmi last year. It was forced to take control after bmi founder Michael Bishop exercised an option to sell his majority stake to the German airline. The option had been agreed in 1999, but the timing of Mr. Bishop's decision to sell wasn't ideal for Lufthansa, which at the time was trying to complete the Austrian Airlines acquisition and introduce its own measures to cope with the economic downturn.

But having attracted interest from some 12 airlines last year, Mr. Prock-Schauer said bmi is no longer in talks about a potential sale. "We are restructuring and that takes a period of time," Mr. Prock-Schauer said, conceding Lufthansa could decide to sell the airline at some point. A restructured, profitable airline would command a higher price.

Since Mr. Prock-Schauer took charge, the airline has adopted an aggressive restructuring program that will contribute £100 million to annualized savings, but only two-thirds of that amount will be realized in 2010. "There was obviously a problem" with the old bmi model, Mr. Prock-Schauer said, leading to losses when the downturn began.

Bmi's restructuring involves refocusing its network, reducing capacity by 20% to 25% in 2010, cutting 800 jobs, most of which already have been identified, and returning unwanted leased planes once contracts expire. The program has the backing of unions and employees.

Major factor in the carrier's speed to restore profitability will be external, such as fuel prices and foreign-exchange-rate movements.

In its 2008 accounts, bmi said it plans to return to profitability by 2012 and that £190 million of additional funding is required by Oct. 31. Lufthansa has provided bmi with two loans, one of which--a £95 million loan--has been secured with slots, Mr. Prock-Schauer said.

Bmi has significant value in its ownership of 10% of the takeoff and landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest international passenger airport. British Airways PLC owns 40% of the slots at Heathrow and previously had voiced interest in bmi because of those assets.

Bmi has leased a number of slots to other members in the Star Alliance and a few to competitors, but those will return to bmi in a year or two and will be used for further expansion if and when the market allows.

Bmi also faces competition from low-cost carriers. Mr. Prock-Schauer wants bmi to retain its budget airline bmibaby, which operates in a market that can still attract customers during downturns. Changes already enacted have meant that bmibaby is as productive with 14 aircraft as it was with 17 due to improved turnaround times.

Following the example of low-cost models, Mr. Prock-Schauer sees opportunities in expanding ancillary revenue across the group by charging for certain services, but he declined to give examples.

He wants bmi to expand routes to the Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and in Continental Europe by flying into hubs of alliance partners and feeding passengers to other destinations. He also intends to expand services in the Middle East and target the oil and energy community there and in Aberdeen, Scotland, which bmi also serves.

 

[malpensante]

Il ritorno al vecchio nome non compare né su FT, né su WSJ e solo altrove si segnala che era stato preso in considerazione. Quindi non se ne farà nulla.

 

[sevs17]

Il ritorno al vecchio nome non compare né su FT, né su WSJ e solo altrove si segnala che era stato preso in considerazione. Quindi non se ne farà nulla.

Su http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4776436/
hanno preso un articolo dall'Intranet di British Airways in cui Wolfgang Prock-Schauer ha detto:
"In the UK the name bmi was fine, but in a foreign market like the Middle East nobody knew what it meant. ‘British’ stands for quality and I think people will want to fly on a British airline."

 

[SkySurfer]

Si, ma British Midland venne proprio tolto perchè aveva una connotazione troppo regionale.

Cmq, il destino di questa compagnia io lo vedo sempre e solo bene, se unito a quello di Virgin Atlantic, nella famiglia Star Alliance.

VS (lungo raggio) + BD (corto raggio feeder + medio raggio) da LHR sarebbe un vero concorrente temibile da far impallidire BA&compagnia.