According to Bettina Hammargren, Director Production Systems at SAS, the Carmen system has been a very effective tool to reduce IT-costs. “We initially went looking for one integrated production system for Network, Crew and Traffic in order to reduce IT-costs. However, we can save an addition SEK 29 million per year, through upgrading the current Network Traffic platform and switching from using a large number of legacy systems to use the one Carmen Crew Management system.”

Søren Boje Mortensen, SVP Airline Solutions at Carmen Systems, said that this agreement is a milestone for Carmen Systems and SAS’ ongoing partnership. “Carmen Systems has started the delivery project and will deliver the full Crew Management system suite to SAS within 24 months. During the negotiations it has been paramount to support the decentralized structure within SAS with a common crew management tool focused on creating flexibility to the four decentralized units which are currently using the system.”

The Carmen Crew Management system covers everything from long-term planning to day of operation and is based on a single central data repository, Carmen Dave. This solution has been designed to handle large quantities of data. Its ability to store information from all parts of the operation enables airlines to greatly simplify their legacy IT infrastructures.

Carmen Systems’ CEO, Per Norén, said, “SAS was the first client ever for Carmen Systems, back in 1987. That SAS now strategically signs such a long-term agreement for our industrial optimization software suite further establishes our cornerstone of working in long-term partnerships with our clients, offering them integrated resource optimization systems. We look forward to continuing to help SAS increase profitability.”

About SAS: Serving almost 22 million passengers a year, Scandinavian Airlines is one of the largest airlines in Europe. Each day, Scandinavian Airlines operates more than 800 flights. With daily connections from Asia and North America, Scandinavian Airlines flies to more than 80 destinations in 25 countries. The airline embodies the spirit of innovation and has won the "Best International Frequent Flyer Program" award in a ballot of more than 84,000 frequent travellers worldwide for the last four years. It also has one of the world's most environmentally advanced fleets.

Carmen Systems AB: develops, markets and implements resource optimization software and services solutions for clients in the transportation industry, primarily the airline and railway industries. Clients include, among others; Aeroméxico, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Finnair, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Spanair, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), Amtrak, Green Cargo, National Rail Enquiries (UK), RailCorp - New South Wales (Australia) and SNCF (French National Railways). Carmen Systems is a rapidly expanding organization and today has 295 employees from 33 nationalities. Carmen Systems’ headquarters is in Göteborg, Sweden with additional offices in Austin (Texas), Brisbane (Australia), Copenhagen, London, Montreal, Singapore and Stockholm.