Conduce Software & Thomas Cook Airlines

Conduce Software are delighted to announce that we have been awarded a contract by Thomas Cook Airlines to provide hosting and support services for their CAA approved Electronic Techlog and Electronic Flight Bag (ETL/EFB). The contract runs for three years with the work to transition the support and service taking with immediate effect.

The current ETL/EFB solution has been in place with Thomas Cook for a number of years, but when the current provider expressed their desire to exit from the EFB market last year Conduce Software were well positioned to take over the service having already been contracted by Thomas Cook to develop iPad data acquisition software for their pilots. Conduce Software were selected from three tendering companies and have been working with the current provider to ensure there is a relatively seamless transition of service and that licenses are in place to grant usage of the various patents and intellectual property behind the solution.

What is an electronic Techlog?

All flights are required by law to be recorded in the aircraft’s technical logbook. This log details where the aircraft flew from and to and the aircraft utilisation, namely for how long it was flying and how many landings it made. This data is essential to schedule maintenance and safety inspections for the aircraft. A copy of each logbook page is required to remain on the aircraft with a copy staying on the ground at the last destination and another copy being sent back to base. The use of paper of course has its issues and airlines have sought to replace antiquated paper, post and fax systems with more up to date electronic systems. The ETL system in use by Thomas Cook does exactly this. Each aircraft is equipped with a ruggedized laptop installed with the ETL software to record all the data normally entered onto a paper logbook and this data is synchronised after each flight with a centralised server. That uploaded data is then transferred to the airline’s maintenance system for processing and analysis. The solution in use by Thomas Cook also provides a number of additional tools for the pilot and line engineers and is known collectively as an electronic flight bag partially replacing the bulky black bags filled with paper charts and manuals that most pilots use.

Conduce Director Wayne Enis said: “As well as providing service and support for Thomas Cook for the existing systems we will be developing and enhancing the ETL software. At present the software only works on PC based laptops, but we would like to offer potential customers the option to choose whatever platform they wish. There is a new Windows operating system being launched later this year, so preparing the software to work with Windows 8 is an obvious first step, but converting the software to work on iPads or Android tablets is an obvious next step and one we are already working towards.”

Thomas Cook General Manager for Line Maintenance Rob Woods is looking forward to seeing how a small company like Conduce Software can differentiate themselves from larger companies who are normally in the EFB arena. “We have been working with Conduce for some time on a number of smaller software projects and we have been very pleased with their ability to react and meet our requirements. I am confident in their ability to be nimble and provide innovative solutions to complex aircraft maintenance problems and that this can be scaled up for a project like this.”

About Conduce Software

To put it simply, “WE MAKE SOFTWARE”… You can buy software we have already made or we can make software especially for you. Either way, our focus is on using the latest and greatest technologies to solve complex problems with simple and useful software.

We have a small and agile development team, so we are able to turn great ideas into REAL working software in a very short period of time. However we are pragmatic and flexible enough to adopt approaches and methodologies that work best for the specific problem.
Our own software reflects what we believe:

• Our software is targeted to performing a specific function flawlessly. No bloat.
• Our software has open architecture to allow it to connect to other systems.
• Our software is designed around the user. No added complexity.
• Our software is mobile and adaptable to work anywhere on any platform.

Founded in 2010 Conduce Software is based in Nuneaton in Warwickshire at the Eliot Park Innovation Centre.

About Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook UK & Ireland is the second largest leisure travel group in the UK with around 19,000 employees and is part of Thomas Cook Group PLC

Thomas Cook UK & Ireland has a network of more than 800 high street stores (Thomas Cook and Going Places), a leading website (www.thomascook.com) and some of the world’s favourite travel brands.

The Company’s airline, Thomas Cook Airlines, operates a fleet of 44 aircraft and flies from various regional airports to destinations worldwide.

For further information please contact Paul Saunders on paul.saunders@conduce.net or call +44 333 888 4066