Loony Letters

The Brief

A simple exercise in timewasting, aimed fairly and squarely at BMI airlines.

 

The Loony Letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

What does the “I” in “BMI” stand for? I have so far been able to deduce that the “BM” stands for “British Midland”, but the meaning of the “I” eludes me.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Bill Bennett

 

The Reply

Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for your letter to our customer relations department, which has been passed to marketing regarding the bmi company name.

The bmi brand name is considered to be one of the key factors in promoting awareness of our product and our position as the UK’s second largest airline.

bmi began in 1938 as a training school for RAF pilots, known as Derby Aviation and has eventually grown to become one of the leading British full service airlines. In 1953, with the cessation of RAF flight instruction and with the development of scheduled routes, Derby Aviation eventually became known as Derby Airways in 1959 and changed again to become British Midland Airways (BMA) in 1964.

With the growth in passenger figures and an expanding route network, BMA became British Midland (BM) in 1985 and changed it’s livery to red, white and blue which was complemented by a distinctive diamond motif. The aircraft livery remains to be a variation of the original red, white and blue livery, but the diamond motif has been discarded in favour of the bmi logo which appears on the tailfins of our aircraft fleet.

In 2002, bmi retained British Midland Airways Ltd as a trading name, but the decision was made to market the product as bmi British Midland.

Whereas the bm in bmi does represent British Midland, the ‘i’ in bmi does not represent any words in particular. Some observers believe it to stand for ‘international’ but it is an aesthetic feature that simply provides a more rounded brand name.

In January 2003 however bmi decided to drop the British Midland from the company title and we have been known since then as bmi.

I would like to thank you for your interest in our company name and brand. Any further information you would like to obtain about our history, products or services can be found on our website at www.flybmi.com.

Yours sincerely

Shakeela Savage
bmi marketing administrator

 

The Review

They could have answered the question in one sentence, but opted instead for two pages of blabber about the RAF.

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