Greetings folks,
I would agree with most of the comments here, especially regards crew swaps which for us occur down route on turnaround with say the FO leaving the aircraft in FAO to get on the LPL inbound a/c due in at the same time etc. A number swaps just don't happen as one of the aircraft may be late and then it is a case of "do we delay both flights for the sake of "she who must be obeyed"?? - clearly On-Time is more of a priorty so it makes a mockery of the supposed advantage of Carmen pairings.
What has been observed perhaps is that there is a apparent lack of tactical thinking in such situations - possibly just company specific here but I don't believe Carmen leaves any "fat" in the roster for so-called unlikely events.
RE: "Carmen Recovery"
Carmen is bought in a number of different parts I believe. There is a pairings optimiser and a rostering tool both of which are Strategic, mid-term planning tools effectively but there is a third package aimed at Tactical rostering - that is on-the-day effects.
Apparently its called "recovery" and I'm told no UK airline has bought it yet. It, on-the-day, for instance can look at a delay to an intended crew swap flight and provide the "Best Optomised Solution"(!). ..... Effecticely we can optimise and allow carmen to produce a beautifully productive roster....then we have a delay.....
..... "Carmen Says..... INSTALL DISK 3 !!!!
What can I say......would you by a Kitten without Litter tray???