DGCA orders SpiceJet to ground 50% flight for 8 weeks citing safety concerns

In an unprecedented action, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered SpiceJet not to fly more than 50% of its scheduled flights for the next eight weeks following a show-cause notice it served on the airline for "degraded" safety.

DGCA had in the first week of July issued a show cause notice to SpiceJet for its failure to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable services after eight incidents within a month. The airline was asked to explain in three weeks why no action should be taken against it. Before that, last year after a financial audit, DGCA found that SpiceJet had an inadequate pool of spare parts.

"In view of 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 air transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet is restricted to 50 percent of the number of departures approved... for a period of eight weeks," DGCA said in its interim order on Wednesday.

The curtailment of capacity is unlikely to have any commercial impact on the airline owned by entrepreneur Ajay Singh. SpiceJet already operates less than 50 percent of the flights it had filed for the summer schedule. After the DGCA order, the airline said in a statement that there would be no impact on the airline.

Sources said that in its response to the notice, SpiceJet pointed out that it was taking action to shore up its manpower in core operational departments like engineering, flight safety, and operation and maintenance control.

SpiceJet's planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical snags between June 19 and July 5

The regulator's latest action came based on its findings of various spot checks and inspections and the airline's reply to its notice.

While the airline had filed for 4,192 flights per week (around 600 a day) for the summer, sources say it has been operating less than 300 flights a day.

"Due to the current lean travel season, SpiceJet like other airlines had already rescheduled its flight operations. Hence, there will be absolutely no impact on our flight operations. We want to reassure our passengers and travel partners that our flights will operate as per schedule in the coming days and weeks. There will be no flight cancellation as a consequence of this order. DGCA's observation that SpiceJet is taking measures for arresting the trend of incidents is very encouraging and we will continue to work under the close guidance of the regulator," the airline said in a statement.