India’s aviation watchdog criticises SpiceJet over safety

India’s aviation regulator has criticised cash-strapped airline SpiceJet over safety failures after a string of technical malfunctions forced pilots to turn back or make emergency landings.

“Poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions . . . resulted in degradation of safety margins,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a notice on Wednesday, giving the budget carrier three weeks to offer a defence and prevent action being taken against it.

SpiceJet, one of India’s top five domestic carriers, said in a statement that it was committed to safety, and that when the regulator audited its aircraft a month ago, all were “found to be safe”.

The regulator published the notice a day after a SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Dubai was diverted to Karachi following a false alarm over fuel levels. Another SpiceJet flight from Kandla in Gujarat to Mumbai suffered a cracked windshield, but landed safely.

After a volatile day of trading, SpiceJet shares closed 3 per cent higher at Rs39. The stock has plunged 44 per cent this year, according to Refinitiv data.

SpiceJet has gone through turbulence before. It was brought back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2014 by its chair and co-founder Ajay Singh, who now owns 59.4 per cent of the airline.

The entrepreneur has ties to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and was dubbed “Team Modi’s slogan writer” in a reference to prime minister Narendra Modi in the local media.

SpiceJet said that when Singh rescued the airline in 2014, “there was no financial assistance or waivers provided by the government. No favours were sought or provided”.

The Haryana-based carrier suffered heavy losses during the pandemic, causing its auditor to declare “material uncertainty” over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

SpiceJet said in its 2020-21 financial report that cargo services were a “much needed lifeline”.

But the DGCA alleges cash flow problems have continued, affecting the fleet’s upkeep.

The regulator said it made a financial assessment of SpiceJet last September, which revealed the carrier had been late paying suppliers, “leading to a shortage of spares”.

“Safety and airworthiness is of utmost importance to the airline,” SpiceJet said, and “is never compromised by us”. It said spare parts needed for operations were managed through third-party providers.

But a SpiceJet pilot concurred with the regulator, saying the problems they had noticed were in “engineering and maintenance, where they (the airline) don’t have the funds”.