In March 2020, soon after the cessation of airline operations globally and domestic flights within India, many in the aviation sector had written Delhi-headquartered low-fare airline SpiceJet's obituary well before that of most of its rivals. Unlike IndiGo, GoAir (now rechristened Go First), Vistara and even AirAsia India, SpiceJet did not have founders or backers with deep pockets. Although it is the only other listed carrier in India besides IndiGo, it was considered the weakest and the least likely to survive the pandemic. But chairman and managing director Ajay Singh surprised everyone by not only surviving but taking the lead on many fronts. Within a few weeks of the scheduled flight stoppage, SpiceJet was doing as many charter flights as it could get hold of.
Domestic air traffic rose 4.8 per cent on an annual basis to 126.48 lakh in February, while more than 1.55 lakh passengers were affected by flight delays during the same period, according to official data released on Friday. In February, Air India's market share rose to 12.8 per cent from 12.2 per cent while that of IndiGo marginally dipped to 60.1 per cent from 60.2 per cent in January. The domestic air traffic climbed to 126.48 lakh in February compared to 120.69 lakh in the year-ago period, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
SpiceJet, India's second-largest private airline, kicked off the process of hiving off its logistics business to its subsidiary SpiceXpress as it looks to raise much-needed capital. On Tuesday, the company sought its shareholders' approval to complete the process and to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore via a qualified institutions placement (QIP). It is in talks with multiple private equity investors as it tries to sell shares in the logistics arm to raise money.
Key stimuli of the government's relief package will be a tax break on jet fuel, waiver of parking and landing charges at airports for the next six months and deferment of payment to oil companies by three months.
Domestic airlines are preparing to offer lower fares for passengers without check-in bags in a move to improve seat occupancy and market share. IndiGo chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta indicated the airline's interest to offer zero bag fares in an interaction with Bloomberg. Regulatory caps on fares and capacity related to Covid-19 have prevented IndiGo from taking a decision and the airline is discussing the issue with the government, he said.
The DGCA conducted the spot checks as there have been many technical malfunction incidents in Indian carriers' planes during the last 45 days.
Maran had sought attachment of SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh's shares by an administrator unless the payment was made.
Over the past month, SpiceJet has been hit by a spate of bad news. As the airline's losses mount and troubles pile up, analysts worry about its prospects.
SpiceJet's chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor has resigned after two years of service.
SpiceJet announced it has started a five-day "1+1 offer sale" where it was offering one-way base fares starting as low as Rs 899, excluding taxes, on its domestic network.
Aircraft lease rentals are fixed costs and account for around 15 per cent of an airline's expense and since these are paid in dollars are also subject to currency fluctuations.
Cites technical reasons; crew told to apologies to passengers and provide feedback forms for those seeking a refund for pre-booked meals
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa is in talks with US aerospace company Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max aircraft. Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and his family members are promoters while ex-IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh is a board member of the airline. The airline is in negotiation with Boeing and has reached out to the government to recertify the aircraft which has been grounded since 2018 after two crashes killing 349 persons, according to sources in the know.
DGCA was irked by was a video on social media that showed passengers dancing on board a midair flight. The regulator has summoned the airline officials seeking an explanation.
Despite partial restoration of salaries, pilots across airlines remain dissatisfied, throwing challenges for managers.
The initial speculation over who is likely to down shutters seems to have given way to a resigned acceptance that all the players are determined to stay in the game.
BBAM seeks $100 million, return of 6 Boeing 737s.
From croissants to Galouti kebabs and Medu vada, Indian carriers, both low-cost and full-service, are revising their in-flight menus to offer passengers a differentiated fare as competition is heating up amid the boom in air travel with the waning of Covid-19. On Monday, Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group on January 27, unveiled its new domestic in-flight menu comprising gourmet meals, new appetizers, desserts, and local dishes. Air India's economy class passengers would now be served dishes such as Mushroom cheese omelette, Dry jeera aloo wedges, and Garlic tossed spinach and corn for breakfast, and Vegetable biryani, Malabar chicken curry, and mixed vegetable poriyal for lunch.
After Air India and IndiGo, SpiceJet is the third carrier to cancel the ticket of the Lok Sabha member.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been asked to open up bookings of SpiceJet till March 31, 2015, while airport operators have been asked to provide 15 days to the airline company for making payments.
"Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
The Bhopal MP was was asked to move to a non-emergency row seat as she was on a wheelchair but she refused, causing the flight to delay of almost 45 minutes. Ultimately, she acquiesced and moved.
The move by four airlines -- IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir -- to suspend the stand-up comedian raises fears that the government can use the no-fly list to settle political scores, undermine the freedom of citizens.
The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
SpiceJet will operate two daily flights using wet leased Twin Otter aircraft from Maldivian Aero. PM Modi is expected to inaugurate and travel on first flight.
About 40 quit last November as the airline cut down its fleet.
Concerned over the deteriorating condition of SpiceJet, aviation regulator DGCA on Friday withdrew 186 of its slots and asked it to clear salary dues of all its employees in the next ten days.
A SpiceJet official allegedly told some Jet pilots that they were doing a "charity" by hiring them.
While the number of operational airports in the country will rise to 131, other smaller towns too are seeing a surge in connectivity.
Budget airline Spicejet on Thursday announced its second flight in Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai sector.
Budget carrier SpiceJet on Thursday said it has been designated as the "Indian scheduled carrier" to operate flights to the US.
The civil aviation ministry appears supportive of SpiceJet because it does not want another airline to fail. The real test now will be the capacity of the airline's chairman, Kalanithi Maran, to raise funds. And he needs to do this quickly.
Though India's airlines are certainly bleeding, they haven't yet faced the ignominy of shutting down.
Over 600 slots at three major airports - Heathrow, Dubai and New York's JFK International - could be at stake.
Low-cost airline SpiceJet on Monday said it has rolled out a special one-way low-fare offer, starting at Rs 826.
Both the pilots of the flight have been grounded, pending enquiry, the airline said, adding the incident took place around 1630 hrs.
Budget carrier SpiceJet has accepted the resignation of its chief Executive Niel Raymond Mills, 18 months before his service contract was to expire.
SpiceJet recently posted a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) for fiscal 2014.
Ajay Singh will team up with two blue-chip investors to bail out the airline
Experts expect a net loss of Rs 26.7 billion for IndiGo and Rs 10.1 billion for SpiceJet in Q1FY21 driven by low traffic volume, low fleet utilisation and poor coverage of fixed costs.
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