Is it poorly, or is it the fact that its not profitable??
bmi forced to suspend Mumbai operation
release date: 19/10/2006
– prolonged technical problem of Airbus A330 aircraft
bmi can confirm that a long term technical problem on one of its Airbus A330 aircraft has forced it to suspend its daily Heathrow to Mumbai service indefinitely. The airline continues to have discussions with the manufacturer Airbus about the reasons for the technical failure, as well as the length of time to achieve its repair.
The airline has been actively seeking an alternative unit as cover during the prolonged absence of the Airbus A330, which is now into a fourth week and could extend to mid December. However, exhaustive searches have been unable to locate a suitable aircraft that would satisfactorily meet the operational requirements and the award winning service delivery standards of bmi.
Nigel Turner, bmi chief executive officer, said: “It is with great sadness and of personal disappointment to me that we have been forced to make this very difficult decision. We have tried without success to locate a suitable replacement unit, but the uncertainty of the length of time we will be without the aircraft has also not helped the situation.
“This uncertainty is also impacting upon our ability confidently to sell seats from Heathrow to Mumbai. The marketplace is intensely competitive and we have serious concerns about a prolonged period of over three month’s absence. A sustained absence will place us at a considerable disadvantage against the competition that we face on services to Mumbai when we are able to recommence operations.
“This is only a temporary setback to our long haul route network growth and we remain committed to the development of that part of our business. That is why we have made no reductions in operating crew levels including the 66 cabin staff positions involved in the Mumbai operation. Any job losses will be minimal and all confined to India based positions.”
The priority of bmi will now be re accommodating passengers already holding reservations onto alternative services with the minimum of disruption.
notes to editors
• Airbus A330 G-WWBM was manufactured in 2001 and was introduced into service at bmi in April of 2001.
• The technical problem is a cracked wing main landing gear rib 6 aft bearing lug, discovered during a routine maintenance inspection. The aircraft was immediately withdrawn from service.
• bmi operates two further Airbus A330 aircraft which were checked immediately they were on the ground. There was no evidence of the technical problem affecting aircraft registration G-WWBM.
• Repair work will commence on G-WWBM on 30 October 2006.
• Services to Mumbai have been suspended since 2 October 2006.
• bmi launched services from Heathrow to Mumbai in May 2005.
She was perfect when i flew her! :rolleyes: Not good for bmi yet again!
By: Tartan Pics - 21st October 2006 at 17:32
I agree Wisywig, my point is they are making excuses, instead of pulling the route, claiming a sick aircraft is the cause is just embarrassing for them. (IMO of course)
By: wysiwyg - 21st October 2006 at 16:16
…what is said to be a very lucrative route…
There are currently 7 airlines on the LHR-BOM route whereas when Virgin started it 2 years ago there were 3. None of the 7 airlines are making a profit on it at the moment but all were waiting for one to withdraw to reverse the situation. Even without the airframe problem bmi was where the money was for who was the likely candidate to back down.
By: Airline owner - 21st October 2006 at 14:37
well stuck in the toilet for 35minutes, im sure he had plenty of time to wipe it with toilet roll? but yeh, i spose he could have used the ‘leaves on the line’ that also cause so many delays
By: Tartan Pics - 21st October 2006 at 14:35
LOL talking of which i heard omething rather ammusing waiting for a train the other day.
“we are sorry to announce that the 18:36 First Great Western service to Redhill is delayed by approximately 35 minutes due to the driver being locked in a toilet at Reading”was laughing for ages! 😀
😀 😀 😀 Hope he had some leaves to wipe his botty 😀 😀
By: Tartan Pics - 21st October 2006 at 14:33
Take all your points on board Peter, but, to me, as someone not in the industry and looking in from the outside,this still seems very poor excuses, as Scott said in an earlier post, they are part of Star Alliance, surely the partner airlines can help a fellow alliance member out??
By: Airline owner - 21st October 2006 at 14:25
This sounds a very poor (british rail style) excuse!
LOL talking of which i heard omething rather ammusing waiting for a train the other day.
“we are sorry to announce that the 18:36 First Great Western service to Redhill is delayed by approximately 35 minutes due to the driver being locked in a toilet at Reading”
was laughing for ages! 😀
By: Cking - 21st October 2006 at 12:53
The serious bit is that I’m not on the repair team! The overtime that is going to be earned on that……. 😉
Rgds Cking
By: bmi-star - 21st October 2006 at 11:43
Very serious situation then! Could have been much worse if not spotted!
By: tenthije - 21st October 2006 at 10:54
Still find it VERY hard to believe a big airline like BMI can’t get some sort of replacement!!
At the moment there are no spare A330s. They are a very popular plane.
OK so they may get a “crappy” 767 that does’nt have their interior designing
That will upset the customers. They booked for a flight of luxury, only to be stuck in a old 767 with no IFE. The number of 767s with full AVOD (as availablt on the BMI 330s) is very small. I am not convinced there are any available at the moment.
they would not be losing revenue on what is said to be a very lucrative route,
From what I hear the route is not that lucrative. You should not mistake loadfactor with profit! The yield on this route is rather low.
as an example (distant one at that) if my van had to go off the road for a long period, i would find a suitable replacement from somewhere rather than just lose all my business it generates for a few months.
Judging from your location I am assuming you are a “white van man”. Do you haul pax or freight? You should realise that freight does not care whether it is moved in a ’06 DAF XF or a ’71 Ford Transit. As long as the freight arrives in one piece, on time and on budget you won’t here the forwarder complain.
Now passengers are a bit more demanding. If they are promised a nice bus (plane/train/ship) with all the trimmings, and get a bus that has nothing, they are pissed of. They may not be able to get (part of) their money back. But they are able, and likely, to take their money elsewhere for their next trip.
There are aircraft easily suitable out there, maybe soon even A330’s since the charter airlines will be winding down a bit for winter.
If anything it will increase the long distance flights for charterers to places like the Carribean.
By: Tartan Pics - 21st October 2006 at 09:57
Still find it VERY hard to believe a big airline like BMI can’t get some sort of replacement!!,OK so they may get a “crappy” 767 that does’nt have their interior designing,BUT, they would not be losing revenue on what is said to be a very lucrative route, as an example (distant one at that) if my van had to go off the road for a long period, i would find a suitable replacement from somewhere rather than just lose all my business it generates for a few months.
There are aircraft easily suitable out there, maybe soon even A330’s since the charter airlines will be winding down a bit for winter.
Naahhh not buying it BMI!! you don’t close the shop because the sherbet bon bons are sold out!
By: mmemovements - 21st October 2006 at 08:44
Surely one of their Star partners (UA or US) could spare a 767 for a few months?
Scott
By: Skymonster - 20th October 2006 at 22:40
This sounds a very poor (british rail style) excuse!! A route suspended because of 1 sick aircraft??? :confused: :confused:
OK since none of the high earners at BMI have thought about it…………Fix the sick one, meanwhile lease another to do the sick ones work!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: (commision charge for this exclusive idea is in the post BMI 😀 )
There are NO A330s out there for short term lease. Sure, they could probably find a 767-300ER with a crappy charter interior and maybe even a p**s poor business class, but what damage does that do? And with yields being so low on LHR-BOM at present, the lease costs will wipe out the any profit – Airbus aren’t going to be paying for the sub-service a/c given that ‘BM is nearly six years old and the cause is uncertain. Better to offload the existing bookings to another carrier (let them take the poor yield) and not take any more bookings until the situation becomes clear, whenever that is.
Andy
By: Skymonster - 20th October 2006 at 22:37
Pictures of the crack are in this topic:
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=245986
Andy
By: tenthije - 20th October 2006 at 20:58
I can think of a Dutch airline with a spare 767 or two. Said airline already supplies another 767 to BMI.
By: wozza - 20th October 2006 at 20:55
This sounds a very poor (british rail style) excuse!! A route suspended because of 1 sick aircraft??? :confused: :confused:
OK since none of the high earners at BMI have thought about it…………Fix the sick one, meanwhile lease another to do the sick ones work!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: (commision charge for this exclusive idea is in the post BMI 😀 )
As mentioned above – they are apparently having difficulty sourcing another 330 of sufficient standard, which is unsurprising.
I have doubts that this is a fake in order to suspend an unprofitable route, my understanding of the market is that christmas would be a very busy period for flights to India, so it would be unwise to indefinately suspend a route at this time when most Xmas bookings would be taken,
Wozza
By: Tartan Pics - 20th October 2006 at 20:35
This sounds a very poor (british rail style) excuse!! A route suspended because of 1 sick aircraft??? :confused: :confused:
OK since none of the high earners at BMI have thought about it…………Fix the sick one, meanwhile lease another to do the sick ones work!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: (commision charge for this exclusive idea is in the post BMI 😀 )
By: philgatwick05 - 20th October 2006 at 19:48
I don’t know the etiquette of linking to other sites. I don’t want to look like a right PPRUNE. 😉
Rgds Cking
😉 😀
Thanks mate!
By: jethro15 - 20th October 2006 at 19:45
what caused damage like that? heavy landing or just one of them things?
Two theories going around (and I stress theories). The first being a heavy landing. The second suggesting that whilst under towing, the a/c was turned too tightly which caused undue stress on the landing gear leg in question resulting in the crack.
By: Cking - 20th October 2006 at 19:12
I don’t know the etiquette of linking to other sites. I don’t want to look like a right PPRUNE. 😉
Rgds Cking
By: Dantheman77 - 20th October 2006 at 19:10
what caused damage like that?
heavy landing or just one of them things?
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October 20, 2006 at 3:36 pm