SpiceJet asked to operate 50% of its fleet after several technical glitches
India's civil aviation sector regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday (July 27, 2022) instructed low-cost carrier SpiceJet to operate maximum of 50 percent of its flights for the next eight weeks after several of its planes reported technical malfunctions recently.
During the period, DGCA will put the budget airliner under "enhanced surveillance", reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The airline, however, said there will be no flight cancellations following the DGCA's order as it is already operating limited services "due to the current lean travel season".
On March 11, the DGCA had approved 4,192 weekly domestic flights of SpiceJet for this year's summer schedule, which ends on October 29.
The DGCA's latest order to operate a maximum of 50 percent of flights means the private carrier would be able to operate not more than 2,096 weekly flights for the next eight weeks.
SpiceJet's planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical malfunction between June 19 and July 5 this year, following which the DGCA on July 6 issued a show cause notice to the airline.
"In view of the findings of various spot checks, inspections and the reply to the show cause notice submitted by SpiceJet, for the continued sustenance of safe and reliable transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet is hereby restricted to 50 percent of the number of departures approved under summer schedule 2022 for a period of eight weeks," the aviation regulator's order said.
If SpiceJet wants to increase the number of flights beyond 50 percent during the eight weeks, it will have to demonstrate that it has "sufficient technical support and financial resources to safely and efficiently undertake such enhanced capacity," the order also read.
There is "poor internal safety oversight" and "inadequate maintenance actions" in SpiceJet which has resulted in degradation of "safety margins", added the order.
Spicejet has been making losses for the last three years--Rs 316 crore, Rs 934 crore and Rs 998 crore in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively.