New Delhi: A show cause notice has been issued by the Civil Aviation Controller General (DGCA) on Wednesday following the continuous malfunctioning of SpiceJet aircraft.
The move by the DGCA comes in the wake of eight incidents of technical snags in the last 18 days. An audit of SpiceJet in September 2021 by the DGCA found that suppliers of spare parts were not being paid on a regular basis, leading to shortage of spare parts.
The DGCA said that SpiceJet has failed to ensure safe, efficient and reliable air services under the Airlines Aircraft Rules, 1937. In fact, on Tuesday, the Delhi-Dubai flight made an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan after a fault in the fuel indicator.
On the same day, the Kandla-Mumbai flight landed in the Maharashtra capital after a crack in the windshield in the middle of the air. Since these two incidents came to light on Tuesday, in the last 18 days, there have been eight incidents of technical snags on SpiceJet’s aircraft. According to the DGCA, all these incidents are under serious investigation.
SpiceJet running in losses
SpiceJet airline has been incurring losses for the last three years. The cheaper service provider SpiceJet had a loss of Rs 316 crore in 2018-19, Rs 934 crore in 2019-2020 and Rs 998 crore in 2020-21. The airline is recovering from the corona pandemic and aviation consulting firm CAPA on June 29 said the losses of Indian airlines could come down from $3 billion in 2021-22 to between $1.4 and $1.7 billion in 2022-23.