Qatar Airways has completed the implementation of TOPS, its new bespoke fleet management system.

According to the airline, TOPS, or Total Operations System, generates a holistic view of the operation by integrating data from multiple sources, allowing the company to anticipate and notify staff of potential issues and solution options.

“Qatar Airways started developing an all-encompassing tool for fleet management in 2014, knowing that our growth trajectory would require us to utilize technology in order to scale our ability to command and control the operation,” said Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of the Qatar Airways Group. “We elected to develop the technology internally, taking advantage of our world-class IT team. Our system, called TOPS, has undergone a number of iterations, and today is second to none in its ability to serve the needs of our flight dispatchers, operations control staff and others.”

According to Qatar Airways, the system includes features such as a tail assignment optimizer, which can assign specific aircraft to specific routes based on operational needs, a notice-to-airmen manager, which immediately refers all NOTAMs to specific dispatchers and operational staff, and Flight Watch, which integrates all flight data into a single graph so staff can track, communicate with and manage the airline’s 500+ flights every day.

“TOPS is a system designed by technology experts to assist airline professionals run the operation more efficiently and effectively,” said Helmut Weixler, chief operations officer of Qatar Airways. “It is also a system designed to evolve with the airline’s needs, including managing crew resources. This system has delivered far more benefits than we originally expected and we are sure that it will continue to add even more value to our airline operations going forward.”

A maintenance planning optimizer which helps schedule aircraft around out-of-service time is already under development and is expected to be implemented before the end of the year, according to the airline.

“TOPS was developed in-house by Qatar Airways staff partnering with Wipro, a global IT services provider in a co-funded and co-development model that has proven successful in the past,” Srinivasan A. T., chief information officer. “Our next iteration will incorporate crew management optimisation tools, which, when complete, will contribute to the total operations system we originally envisioned. We will not stop here and will continue to invest in the system to ensure that our airline operations, enabled by TOPS, always continue to be the best-in-class.”