Mphasis and Copa Airlines Test Quantum Computing for Airline Disruptions
Mphasis and Copa Airlines have hosted a global Quantum Computing Challenge focused on solving a practical airline-operations problem: re-accommodating passengers when flights are disrupted. The challenge brought together teams from Indian Institutes of Technology and Canadian universities to explore whether quantum computing can improve the speed and quality of passenger reassignment.
The initiative used real Copa Airlines data and quantum-computing infrastructure from technology partners including Classiq, Multiverse Computing and qBraid. The objective was to improve passenger re-accommodation rates without increasing solution runtime.
Quantum Computing Targets Airline Disruption Management
Passenger re-accommodation becomes particularly complex when flights are cancelled, schedules change or demand shifts. Airlines must consider affected passengers, available seats, alternative flights and customer priorities while trying to find an efficient reassignment plan.
Traditionally, these problems are addressed using mathematical optimization on classical computing systems. The challenge explored whether quantum and hybrid quantum-classical approaches could produce improved solutions at scale.
IIT and Canadian Teams Compete
The competition was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved 22 teams from Indian Institutes of Technology, evaluated by Mphasis experts and IIT-Madras faculty. Six teams were selected for the next stage.
In the second phase, those six teams competed with three teams from the University of Calgary and University of Lethbridge using real Copa Airlines data and quantum infrastructure supplied by the technology partners.
Teams Build End-to-End Optimization Solutions
Participants were asked to develop complete solutions covering several stages of the re-accommodation process. These included identifying affected flight segments and passengers, prioritising passengers using Customer Value Management data, ranking alternative flights and determining optimal passenger assignments.
The solutions combined quantum and classical optimization techniques, followed by benchmarking and performance evaluation. Three solutions were ultimately shortlisted for presentation to Copa Airlines leadership.
Mphasis Expands Applied Quantum Computing
The challenge is part of Mphasis' broader work on applying quantum computing to enterprise problems. Its NEXT Labs research and innovation arm has been working with industry and academic partners to explore practical applications of the technology.
Mphasis has also launched QOptiDecision, a quantum-enhanced optimization offering using hybrid quantum-classical algorithms, and qCryptsec, a quantum-safe cybersecurity offering.
The Copa Airlines challenge provides a practical test case for quantum optimization in aviation. While the competition demonstrates how quantum approaches can be applied to complex airline planning, further testing will be needed to determine how such solutions perform against established classical systems in large-scale commercial operations.
