SpiceJet News: DGCA issues notice to SpiceJet: ‘Failed to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services’ | India Business News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet, asking the carrier to explain why action should not be taken against it for failing “to establish safe, efficient and reliable air services”.
“The reported incidents on aircraft operated by SpiceJet from April 1, 2022, till date have been reviewed. It has been observed that on number of occasions, the aircraft either turned back to its originating station or continued landing to the destination with degraded safety margins.
“(This shows) poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions as most of the incidents are related to either component failure or system related failure (resulting) in degradation of the safety margins,” the damning notice said.

The strongly-worded notice was issued on Tuesday (July 5) when the flights operated by the airlines faced three snags — the Delhi-Dubai flight diverting to Karachi; Kandla-Mumbai flight making priority landing after its windshield outerpane cracked and a Kolkata-China freighter returning due to a faulty weather radar.
These came after a string of similar incidents in recent weeks.
The regulator said that a financial assessment of SpiceJet carried out last September had “revealed that the airline is operating on cash and carry; suppliers/approved vendors are not being paid on regular basis leading to shortage of spares …”
“ … it may be deduced that SpiceJet has failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable air services (under rules)… Now therefore the accountable manager of SpiceJet is hereby called upon to show cause within three weeks of receipt of this notice as to why action should not be taken against the airline. In case no reply is received within the stipulated period , the matter will be proceeded ex – parte,” it added.

The government is now clearly not taking any chances with SpiceJet.
The aviation ministry tweeted the show-cause notice to the airline, saying, “In light of the recent incidences of technical malfunction with regard to SpiceJet flights in the last 18 days, the DGCA has issued a show-cause notice to the air carrier.”
Retweeting the notice, Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Passenger safety is paramount. Even the smallest error hindering safety will be thoroughly investigated and course-corrected.”

Meanwhile, a SpiceJet spokesperson said it will respond to the notice in the given time period.
“We are committed to ensuring a safe operation for our passengers and crew. We are an IATA-IOSA certified airline. SpiceJet successfully completed the meticulous audit program for recertification in October 2021. We have been regularly audited by DGCA. All our aircraft were audited a month ago by the regulator and found to be safe. All flights of SpiceJet are conducted in compliance with the applicable regulations of the DGCA Civil Aviation Regulations on the subject,” the spokesperson said.
A few months ago, the regulator had warned the top management of SpiceJet that it should not cut corners on safety and maintenance issues due to the airline’s financial position.
All Indian airlines are in deep losses post-Covid (with IndiGo being the only profitable desi carrier before 2020) and rising fuel prices after Russia’s war on Ukraine has further strained their finances.
Airlines that are not backed by strong groups (like Tatas, Wadias and InterGlobe being the promoters of Air India, AI Express, AirAsia India and Vistara; GoAir