Have you seen BA's punctuality performance recently.........how can you say CLC just slows everything down..........
Granted BA's CLC generally works very well. It perhaps has played a part in improvement of punctuality, however BA was pretty much fully CLCed before the introduction of T5, which is where the massive improvement in punctuality statistics took place.
BA's CLC system improves punctuality because the final loadsheet is ACARSed to the a/c; however this could easily be done from the gate. The actual data entry, which goes into preparing the loadsheet takes longer. If we still had to hand final a final paper LS to the crew, whilst using CLC we would see delays significantly increase, this is because data has to be entered twice:
For example the loaders come in with the completed LIR. The details of this need to be sent to CLC before the LS is issued. The turnaround coordinator (TRC) enters this into a mask, which is then telexed to a specific desk at the hub servicing your flight. The CLC agent then checks and enters
exactly the same data into the system, albeit in a different format, which goes to create the loadsheet. Therefore the actual CLC service is not quicker than an experienced dispatcher entering the data locally, the delay is simply absorbed by the a/c receiving the figures on taxi out, rather than whilst sat at the gate.
As a TRC I always keep an eye on the trim/weights and progress of the flight. I've seen less experienced TRCs let an aircraft go and CLC have only just then realised its out of trim. Its then a complicated procedure of moving pax around the cabin whilst its sat at the holding point, or calling the a/c back and reloading it - not pretty.
Having said that it is a system which generally works well. BA's CLC agents are extremely competent at what they do and we very rarely have problems with them. However as a handling agent for other airlines, I create my own loadsheets at the gate every single day, and achieve the same results without the added layer of complexity. However I do understand the reasons behind CLC: Money, naturally.