A few months ago, the Indian budget airline SpiceJet seemed on the brink of a fatal stall.
In December, the carrier’s financial problems reached a tipping point as its fleet was grounded, forcing SpiceJet to cancel more than 1,800 flights.
Dozens of pilots had already quit the airline in the months before this. Many believed that SpiceJet was sure to go the way of Kingfisher Airlines, which ceased operations in 2012 because of its financial woes.
But fast forward to today and the airline is still flying and appears to be starting to turn its fortunes around after Ajay Singh, the airline’s co-founder who sold his stake in 2010, stepped in to save SpiceJet in January this year by taking a majority stake.
The low-cost carrier is now expanding its fleet and it recently announced a profit for the January to March quarter following seven quarters of losses. Mr Singh, who is now the chairman and managing director of the airline, has injected 8 billion rupees (Dh462.9 million) into the carrier.
20/06/15 Rebecca Bundhun/The National
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In December, the carrier’s financial problems reached a tipping point as its fleet was grounded, forcing SpiceJet to cancel more than 1,800 flights.
Dozens of pilots had already quit the airline in the months before this. Many believed that SpiceJet was sure to go the way of Kingfisher Airlines, which ceased operations in 2012 because of its financial woes.
But fast forward to today and the airline is still flying and appears to be starting to turn its fortunes around after Ajay Singh, the airline’s co-founder who sold his stake in 2010, stepped in to save SpiceJet in January this year by taking a majority stake.
The low-cost carrier is now expanding its fleet and it recently announced a profit for the January to March quarter following seven quarters of losses. Mr Singh, who is now the chairman and managing director of the airline, has injected 8 billion rupees (Dh462.9 million) into the carrier.
20/06/15 Rebecca Bundhun/The National
