CLC - Its good when it works. but....
when it doesn't it can really start to screw things up.
I've had taxi down and off a runway as I was bloking the entire airfield waiting for that wretched piece of paper to pop out the printer. Just last week it was a 30 minute wait for the final loadsheet. Shame it was the airport with the quickest taxiout on the network!
The frustration is made worse by a real lack of information - I can talk to the local staff on VHF, but they have to call the CLC by phone. The answer is always "It will be there in a minute" - but never is! They are starting to put the CLC phone number & contact on the provisional loadsheet.
We used to have real problems at our home base, so much so that ATC would not let us go anywhere that would let us block a runway entrance. Much better now.
I think it is good having all the experts in one place, but I do miss the personal liasons with a dispatcher when operating near aircraft weight limits.