Ajay Singh will team up with two blue-chip investors to bail out the airline
Over 600 slots at three major airports - Heathrow, Dubai and New York's JFK International - could be at stake.
Both the pilots of the flight have been grounded, pending enquiry, the airline said, adding the incident took place around 1630 hrs.
Though India's airlines are certainly bleeding, they haven't yet faced the ignominy of shutting down.
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.
A senior government official informed AAI had agreed not to withdraw the credit facility of SpiceJet till Monday.
'The recent price hike would only be beneficial if the airlines continue to operate at 80 per cent airline capacity. An increase towards 90 or 100 per cent airline capacity would again add pressure to the fares as demand remains muted. Also, we are in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year which is a seasonally weaker quarter,' says an analyst.
Markets regulator Sebi has kept in abeyance the processing of Go Airlines' draft papers for an initial public offer worth Rs 3,600 crore. Go Airlines (India) Ltd, which has announced rebranding itself as 'Go First', filed preliminary papers for an initial share sale worth Rs 3,600 crore in May. The proceeds will be mainly used to repay dues. The "issuance of observations (has been) kept in abeyance", according to Sebi's latest update on processing status of Go Airlines' draft offer documents. The information was updated on June 25. In Sebi parlance, issuance of observations implies its go-ahead for the IPO.
DGCA sources pegged SpiceJet's total dues at Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion), which the airline owes lessors, vendors, income-tax department and airport operators.
The move comes amid expectations that the government would allow foreign airlines to invest directly in Indian carriers.
Before buying Marans' stake, Singh's shareholding stood at 1.85%.
40 executives in the middle to senior level are set to join the airline from rival IndiGo.
Airlines sought a limited period concession of the standing rule of slot allocation, which mandates that firms must operate at least 80 per cent of their allocated slots.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said that there was no question of any bail out to the beleaguered carrier
The airline had told its pilots on Wednesday that they will not be paid salaries for April and May, adding that those who have been operating cargo flights will get paid for the number of hours flown.
Boeing 737 MAX planes were globally grounded in March 2019, after two of these crashed within five months, raising safety concerns.
SpiceJet announced discounted fares on domestic sector.
DGCA rules require pilots to service a six-month notice.
Ajay Singh is trying hard to turnaround SpiceJet.
The airline pitches its product and service, keeps silent about price in a new campaign as it looks to win over young business travelers.
The secret behind Singh's success was that he mostly set about undoing all the mistakes made by the Marans, points out Anjuli Bhargava.
The airline was forced to ground its fleet in December after running out of cash.
Over the past six months, the airline's fleet has shrunk from 58 aircraft to 48 planes with the carrier returning 10 Boeing 737s to lessors.
Around 1.12 crore domestic passengers travelled by air in December, approximately 6.7 per cent higher than the 1.05 crore who travelled in November, the country's aviation regulator said on Wednesday. Overall, 8.38 crore people travelled on domestic flights in 2021 as compared to 6.3 crore in 2020, showing a jump of 33 per cent, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated in its monthly statement. IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 61.41 lakh passengers in December, a 54.8 per cent share of the domestic market, it mentioned.
Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.
A consortium led by Ajay Singh is initially expected to invest Rs 1,200 cr, largely to cover liabilities.
This is three and a half times the loss in the same quarter a year ago.
Confirming the resignation of Aggarwal, airline sources said Kishore Gupta, a member of the SpiceJet board, is likely to take over the position for the time being as part of an interim arrangement.
His exit is yet another example of a churn in the company's senior management, which saw fresh appointments in finance, commercial and sales division.
Promoters of SpiceJet do not have funds to bail out the airlines of dire consequences.
Companies across the sector are restructuring payrolls of crew, cutting allowances, and extending leave without pay duration as they realise they will have more aircraft and employees compared to customers.
His resignation comes at a time when the cash-strapped airline is looking at various ways to get in fresh investment. The airline will either look at a merger with Kingfisher Airlines, which is promoted by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, or a possible infusion from US distress fund Wilbur Ross, which is willing to pump in money.
SpiceJet is the first Indian airline to operate on Kathmandu-Bagdogra route.
Dubai-based Emirates Airline has termed reports that it is holding discussions with Indian carrier SpiceJet for buying a stake in the airline as 'inaccurate' and said that it was busy with its own expansion plans.
The DGCA has allowed SpiceJet to accept advance bookings beyond March 31.
The airline is trying to save on wage costs by cutting the normal notice period of six months by about half for pilots who have already resigned.
Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of Spicejet, has moved the Delhi High Court against the airline.
Spicejet has sought extention from the Airports Authority of India over payment schedule.
Frequent flight cancellations and the Airports Authority of India's decision to put SpiceJet on a cash-and-carry mode have made online travel agencies nervous.
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