SpiceJet Crisis: DGCA Places Airline Under ‘Enhanced Surveillance’ To Ensure Safe Flight Ops

Trouble mounted for crisis-hit budget carrier SpiceJet as aviation watchdog DGCA Thursday placed the airline under ‘enhanced surveillance’ to ensure the safety of its flight operations. The enhanced surveillance entails increased spot checks and night-time surveillance of the airline’s operations.
In a statement, DGGA said that following reports of flight cancellations and financial stress being experienced by SpiceJet, it conducted a special audit of the airline’s engineering facilities on August 7 and 8 and found “certain deficiencies” during the exercise.
“In light of the past record and the special audit carried out in August 2024, SpiceJet has once again been placed under enhanced surveillance with immediate effect. This would entail an increase in the number of spot checks/night surveillance with a view to ensure safety of operations,” said the release issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Previously, in 2023, the civil aviation regulator had placed SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance following a series of similar reports.
“After a series of occurrences reported on the Spicejet fleet in 2022, a special drive of spot checks was undertaken during which the airline was permitted to release aircraft for operations only after confirming to DGCA that all reported defects/malfunctions had been rectified,” the release noted.
Earlier, several media reports, quoting sources said SpiceJet had cancel flights from Dubai over non-payment of certain dues to Dubai airport. However, on Wednesday, the airline asserted that all its scheduled flights from Dubai are now operating normally after flight cancellations due to “operational reasons.”
The budget carrier has been grappling with multiple headwinds, including financial and legal woes, and is also in the process of raising funds, as per reports.