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Dear bmibaby customer,

 

Following last nights broadcast of BBC Watchdog I wanted to take the opportunity to respond. In the program it was alleged that bmibaby has undersized baggage gauges, and that passengers carrying correct sized luggage (of dimensions 55cm x 40cm x 20cm) would not be able to fit them into our gauges, and are therefore being charged unnecessarily for putting them in the hold. The implication of the program is that this is a deliberate ploy of bmibaby to get extra money out of customers.

 

I must firstly categorically state that these allegations are simply not true. So let me start by giving you the facts, and then I’ll try and outline our perspective on the whole matter and what we are going to do next.

 

There are no baggage gauges being used by bmibaby that are smaller than the published dimensions of 55x40x20cm. None anywhere. So any customer bringing a bag of maximum dimensions of 55x40x20cm would be able to fit the bag in our gauges. The gauges are designed in a way which removes sharp edges by having a slight curve at the ‘top’ (and the ‘top’ will vary depending on whether the gauge is of horizontal design or vertical design). The one nuance that has emerged from this investigation is that a hard box of exactly these dimensions may not fit some gauges because the curve prevents the corner from fitting within the gauge. And that is a fair point. However this has never been an issue until now, as the vast majority of passengers do not carry hard edged square boxes of these exact dimensions, but instead carry normal cabin baggage. The reason the ‘box’ fitted into one gauge on Watchdog and not another, was because the gauge where it fitted was of a design that is attached to a sign, and hence does not need curved edges. I can state though quite accurately that both gauges had the same dimensions – the only variance was the curved ‘top’ on the gauge at the gate which prevented this hard edged box fitting in.

 

Why do we need to restrict cabin baggage in the first place?

 

There is only a limited amount of space onboard, and we (as do all airlines) need to ensure that the allocation of this luggage space is fairly divided among passengers. The length restriction of 55cm is in place specifically to ensure that bags can be placed length-ways into the overhead locker, thus allowing 3 bags of such size into each locker. If the length is any longer than this then it would need to be placed in side-ways which reduces the locker space available significantly.

 

I should also put this into perspective – the amount of passengers who get advised that their bag is too large at the gate is absolutely minimal.  The reason we make a charge for those bags that are too big is purely a means of ensuring there is a disincentive to bringing too large a bag. Our staff are not financially incentivised to collect money for gate baggage, they are simply asked to enforce a policy which means that the limited baggage space onboard is fairly distributed amongst all passengers.

 

So what are we doing now?

 

Since I took over as MD on the 1^st April, I have been very much driving the service focus of our business. Myself and my management team all now go ‘back to the floor’ on a routine basis and work alongside our staff at the airports and onboard. I am absolutely of the belief (as are my team) that we need to be first in class when it comes to low cost carrier customer service. At the 2010 Conde Nast Readers Traveller Awards, bmibaby scored highest for convenience of booking and service/staff in the category ‘Favourite Low Cost Airline’. This makes me very proud as I firmly believe in offering a good service, and this is recognition to our team of the great job they do. And this is something we need to continue to build on.

 

Having worked at the airport first hand I have seen how we manage our baggage processes, and we were already looking at redesigning our gauges. The Watchdog broadcast has made sure these new gauges will not feature a curved design! We have new gauges on order and will be sending them out around our airport network soon. While I don’t intend to change our size policy, the gauges will be redesigned to ensure that if any passenger has been over zealous in packing their case then it should still fit. Hopefully!

 

I know some comments have been made about not receiving replies to letters sent to us. Please be assured that all letters are responded to, however due to the Ash Cloud crisis earlier this year our volume of correspondence and customer service administration quadrupled overnight. We recruited extra staff to help facilitate replying to these, but like every airline had a long turnaround time due to the massive volume of correspondence. This is finally settling down, and letters are being replied to quicker.

 

So we’re not perfect I admit, but we are working hard to improve our business all the time. There are numerous other initiatives ongoing to enhance our offering, but I won’t bore you with all the details at this stage!

 

So the BBC Watchdog program has been a disappointment as I know that our new management team has been working very hard over the last few months to ensure we deliver a high standard of service. We get a lot of positive feedback, and many happy customers. So to see some unhappy ones, and hear such feedback saddens us as a management team, and only spurs us on to ensure we address any issues positively and continue to take this airline forward as one customers can trust and enjoy flying with.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see you onboard or at the airport in the future.

 

Many thanks,

 

Julian