Pilots apprehensive of SpiceJet's salary hike announcement

New Delhi: Days after SpiceJet announced a salary hike for its pilots, a section of captains and first officers of the airline has expressed apprehension about the implementation of the revised remuneration citing terms and conditions.

In a communication to pilots on October 19, SpiceJet said effective November 1, 2022, its captains' salaries will increase to Rs 7 lakh for 80 hours of monthly flying and Rs 6.13 lakh for 70 hours from the current Rs 4.5 lakh-level which was made effective from October 1, 2022.

Accordingly, salaries of trainers and senior first officers have also been increased commensurately, the Gurugram-headquartered airline said.

The trainers comprise Designated Examiner (DE), Type Ratings Instructor (TRI) and Line Training Captain (LTC).

However, a section of pilots alleged that the airline has announced a hike in their remunerations while they are yet to get salaries at par with pre-COVID levels, a claim denied by SpiceJet.

On an average, a captain is currently getting around Rs 2.50 lakh a month while a first officer takes home about Rs 1 lakh every month after basic deductions, multiple pilots said requesting anonymity.

"So basically, we are still getting only half of our actual salaries and I do not know how this new salary structure announcement is going to be implemented," a Spicejet pilot told PTI.

SpiceJet insiders said the company had recently forced dozens of pilots into opting for leave without pay (LWP) as the airline is operating at 50 per cent strength due to DGCA's order post a series of flight safety incidents.

23/10/22 PTI/New Indian Express

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After Smoke In Spicejet Cabin, Centre To "Strengthen" Aviation Watchdog

Mumbai: The civil aviation ministry will create a "substantial" number of posts at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enhance its safety oversight function, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said.

Responding to a recent communication by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the civil aviation minister also said the DGCA has completed as many as 202 surveillance inspections in this fiscal so far.

Chaturvedi, in a letter to Mr Scindia, had on October 14 highlighted an incident of smoke inside the cabin of a SpiceJet's Goa-Hyderabad flight and sought necessary action to ensure airlines maintain the highest level of safety standards.

On October 12, SpiceJet's Bombardier Q400 aircraft operating its flight to Hyderabad from Goa had an emergency landing in Hyderabad after smoke filled up its cabin.

"...I have had the matter examined. Based on the preliminary investigation, evidence of engine oil was found in the engine bleed-off valve, which had led to oil entering the aircraft air-conditioning system resulting in smoke in the cabin," Mr Scindia said in his response to Chaturvedi on October 21.

The observations made by DGCA were communicated immediately to SpiceJet for rectification, the minister said, adding, "DGCA is keeping a close watch on the situation and shall take all appropriate action to avert any untoward incident." The ministry and DGCA place "highest importance on the safety of air operations" and have taken several proactive measures to enhance the safety of air operations and minimise air occurrences, Mr Scindia said in the communication.

He said that in addition to various steps, DGCA has further conducted 59 spot checks on SpiceJet aircraft, among others.

23/10/22 PTI/NDTV

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Pilots apprehensive of SpiceJet's salary hike announcement

Days after SpiceJet announced a salary hike for its pilots, a section of captains and first officers of the airline has expressed apprehension about the implementation of the revised remuneration citing terms and conditions.

In a communication to pilots on October 19, SpiceJet said effective November 1, 2022, its captains' salaries will increase to ₹7 lakh for 80 hours of monthly flying and ₹6.13 lakh for 70 hours from the current ₹4.5 lakh-level which was made effective from October 1, 2022.

Accordingly, salaries of trainers and senior first officers have also been increased commensurately, the Gurugram-headquartered airline said.

However, a section of pilots alleged that the airline has announced a hike in their remunerations while they are yet to get salaries at par with pre-COVID levels, a claim denied by SpiceJet.

On an average, a captain is currently getting around ₹2.50 lakh a month while a first officer takes home about ₹1 lakh every month after basic deductions, multiple pilots said requesting anonymity.

23/10/22 PTI/The Hindu

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SpiceJet to fly at full capacity in winter, Go First flights to fall 40%

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has lifted the 50% flight cap on Ajay Singh-promoted SpiceJet for the winter schedule, allowing it to operate at its full capacity. The DGCA had directed the troubled carrier to operate at half its capacity during the summer schedule in July, following multiple technical snags reported on its flights.

Reports earlier this week stated that SpiceJet, a no-frills carrier, is inducting at least half a dozen Boeing 737 Max aircraft on wet lease. These narrow-body planes can be put to use on the domestic sector. SpiceJet already operates a number of 737s.

The DGCA on Friday announced the winter schedule for domestic airlines that will come into effect on October 30. The regulator has allowed airlines to operate 21,941 departures per week for 105 airports in this year’s winter schedule, compared to 22,287 allowed in last year’s winter schedule, a drop of 1.55%.

The DGCA has allowed airlines to operate 21,941 departures per week for 105 airports in this year’s winter schedule, compared to 22,287 allowed in last year’s winter schedule.

The fall is mainly on account of the suspension of scheduled operations of Trujet and Pawan Hans; without taking these into account, there is a growth of 0.58% this year against 21,813 flights per week of last year’s winter schedule. The schedule for this year was finalised after the slot conference held in September 2022.

In 2020, the DGCA had cleared a schedule for 12,983 flights per week, which was a decrease of 44% compared to 23,307 allowed in the winter of 2019.

Go First (founded as GoAir) has seen the biggest reduction of flights among its peers. The Mumbai-based airline has been allowed to conduct 1,390 departures in the winter schedule per week, a fall of nearly 40% compared to last year.

Market leader IndiGo has seen a reduction of nearly 2% to 10,085 departures per week, while Tata Group-controlled Air India’s flights have dropped by 3% to 1990 per week.

However, Vistara and SpiceJet have seen growth. Vistara is allowed 1,941 flights during the winter schedule, a growth of nearly 16% per week, while troubled carrier SpiceJet saw a growth of nearly 7% to 3,193 flights compared to last year.

New entrant Akasa Air will conduct 479 flights per week during the winter schedule. The Mumbai-based company is targeting 300 flights every week by October end.

22/10/22 Financial Express

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SpiceJet to suspend operations in Sikkim from October 30

Gangtok: Commercial airliner SpiceJet has decided to suspend its operations in Sikkim from October 30.

Notably, SpiceJet is the only commercial airliner that operates daily flights to and from the Pakyong airport in Sikkim.

SpiceJet has decided to suspend its services in Sikkim due to “operational constraints”.

The airlines has informed that bad weather and low visibility were bottlenecks that led to the decision of suspending operations in Sikkim.

“Pakyong is a VFR (Visual Flight Rules) airport and does not have instrument landing facilities To avoid inconvenience to our passengers, flight operations have been temporarily suspended. We will share an update once the services resume,” SpiceJet informed.

According to reports, SpiceJet suffered significant losses during the monsoon season when the carrier had to cancel flights due to bad weather in Sikkim.

21/10/22 Northeast Now

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SpiceJet increases captains’ salary to Rs 7 lakh per month from Nov

SpiceJet announced an increase in the salary of its captains from November onwards. The revised salary, higher as compared to the pre-COVID salary, will amount to Rs 7 lakh per month for 80 hours of flying. The hike in salary will be implemented from November 1.

The carrier said that it has been revising pilot salaries on a monthly basis and salary for October was hiked by 22 per cent for captains and First Officers. As compared to August, the September salary saw an increase of up to 10 per cent for trainers and 8 per cent for captains and First Officers.

It said that salaries of trainers and Senior First Officer have also been increased commensurately.

The budget carrier increased salaries of all its pilots from October after raising salaries for line captains by 6 per cent in the previous month. An internal email informed its employees then that they would receive tax deducted at sources and a significant portion of their provident fund contributions in the coming 2-3 weeks. The increment was announced a day after the carrier put scores of pilots on leave without pay for three months as a cost-cutting measure.

The airline has also received loan approval under the central government’s ECLGS scheme.

19/10/22 Anwesha Madhukalya/Business Today

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SpiceJet passenger shares video of plane filled with smoke, alleges oxygen masks didn't deploy:

The video of SpiceJet's flight cabin filled with smoke has surfaced on the internet. The video allegedly shows the passengers sitting in a smoke-filled cabin of a Goa-Hyderabad flight that made an emergency landing in Hyderabad on October 14, 2022. The incident occurred with the airline's Q400 aircraft, and the passengers safely deboarded the flight using the plane's emergency exit. The aviation watchdog authority Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had ordered a probe into the incident. Earlier, there were allegations of airline staff not taking any action, which the new video seems to be confirming.

Finally, a video has emerged of the @flyspicejet flight where smoke filled the cabin.

And "airline staff forced us to delete videos and photos of the incident. They snatched my phone when I refused."

Via passenger @VivekVi97433075 @DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI @FAANews @icao pic.twitter.com/f9hnVop5Zo

— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) October 16, 2022

A passenger shared the video on Twitter going by the name Vivek Vishal with the caption saying."SpiceJet risks people’s life, we were choking for 25 mins, and even oxygen masks didn’t deploy. Strict action should be taken against such a negligent airline." The passenger also tagged the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditay Scindia and DGCA in his tweet.

The video shows the cabin of the SpiceJet flight filled with smoke while the alarms blare in the background can be heard. One of the crew members can be heard shouting at the top of her lungs though it is unclear what she is saying. Meanwhile, the passengers in the plane can be seen sitting with their heads down in the cabin filled with smoke. Along with the videos, the post also had two blurry pictures. 

Earlier, one of the passengers named Srikanth Mulupala, said on Twitter, "We were returning to Hyderabad from Goa.. suddenly there was smoke all around inside the plane starting from Nagpur to Hyderabad...It took 20 minutes from there, and all the passengers suffered and blacked out with fear. Luckily we landed alive and safely... But what if something happens, and who would be responsible, this happened clearly due to the negligence of the crew and respective department."

17/10/22 ZeeNews

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Indian airline denies crew asked passengers to ‘pray to god’ as cabin filled with smoke

An Indian airline has shot down claims that its crew had asked passengers to “pray to god” after smoke had filled the cabin and cockpit mid air in a “mortifying” experience.

Low-cost carried SpiceJet dubbed the claims to be “unfounded” after its flight from Goa to Hyderabad made a “full scale emergency landing”, diverting as many as 11 planes at the airport on Wednesday after smoke filled the cabin and cockpit.

A probe has been ordered by India’s federal aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), into flight SG 373, which had 86 passengers onboard.

“The plane landed safely and passengers disembarked through the emergency exit. One passenger sustained minor scratches on the feet while disembarking from the aircraft,” said a DGCA official.

SpiceJet told The Independent in a statement that “smoke was observed in the cabin during descent” but added that the incident was “misreported and sensationalised”.

A passenger on the flight, flying for the very first time, had told The Times of India, that they were asked to pray to god for their families and panicking passengers were screaming.

“They [the crew members] told us to pray to God... pray for our families... It was mortifying. Many of my co-passengers panicked and started shrieking,” said Srikanth M, who works at an IT company in Hyderabad.

But soon after the report was published, a SpiceJet spokesperson dismissed the claims in a statement to The Independent and said the crew had followed the complete standard of procedure (SoP) and stayed calm throughout the process.

“At no point in time did the crew make any announcement asking passengers to ‘pray to God’ and the recording of the CVR (CVR) proves the same,” the statement said.

“Unfounded remarks have been attributed to our crew, which is extremely unfortunate. The emphasis of the crew in such a situation is to guide passengers to safety and that is what they did,” the statement said.

Pictures and videos shared on social media showed passengers sitting in the smoke-filled cabin of the aircraft and clapping when the plane made a safe landing.

Mr Srikanth, who shared the videos on Twitter, said: “This should not be ignored... Must be taken necessary action.”

“It took 20 minutes from there and we all the passengers suffered and blacked out with fear. Luckily we landed alive and safely... But what if something happens and who would be responsible, this happened clearly due to the neglence of the crew and respective department,” the tweet added.

Mr Srikanth also alleged that the airline staff forced them to delete the photos and videos of the incident and tried to take his phone when he refused.

The airline spokesperson said they “advised the passengers against using their mobiles” as it is their duty during emergency evacuations.

16/10/22 Shweta Sharma/Independent

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Hyderabad-bound Spicejet flight makes emergency landing; smoke detected in cockpit

A SpiceJet flight from Goa to Hyderabad had to make an emergency landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The SG 3735 flight's pilot observed smoke and informed the air traffic controller (ATC), who then informed the ground crew. The landing was successful on Wednesday night. The pilot discovered the smoke in the cockpit shortly before the flight's scheduled 11.30 p.m. landing in Hyderabad. The flight had departed from Goa at 9.55 p.m. Additionally, all 86 people on board the flight, which made an emergency landing, are safe. 

"There were 86 passengers on the flight. All are safe," a source at the airport told IANS. The incident reportedly sent panic among passengers and a female passenger was taken ill due to smoke. The emergency landing led to diversion of nine flights to other cities. Six domestic flights, two international flight and one cargo flight were diverted.

The airline has been under the radar of the Indian aviation watchdog authority DGCA for the malfunctions in its aircraft causing emergency landings. Earlier, Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced the extension of the restrictions on SpiceJet, and now the airline will continue to operate 50 percent of its departure until 29 October 2022.

13/10/22 ZeeNews

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Can SpiceJet, IndiGo and other Indian airlines afford wet leasing aircraft amid inflationary pressure?

India's aviation industry plans to wet lease aircraft for the winter season, striving to fly out of the air pockets it was forced into by the coronavirus-induced crisis ranging from grounded aircraft during lockdowns to the elevated fuel prices that eat into its revenues.

Now that the infections have subsided, airlines would look to go all out particularly in this festive season. In fact, Indian airlines are not ready to sit back and wait for the delivery of new aircraft. Instead, they are wet leasing planes to shore up capacity for the winter schedule when typically there is a spurt in tourism.

But can they afford the wet leasing? Read >>

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SpiceJet deposits TDS to all employees for the FY2021-22, PF amount to be deposited

New Delhi: Due to a lack of funds, SpiceJet has not deposited the PF money of the employees nor deposited the TDS money for several months. Indian budget airline SpiceJet has started depositing Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) to its employees for the financial year (FY) 2021-22.

"We are happy to share that TDS for FY2021-22 of all employees has been deposited by SpiceJet. It will take a few days to reflect in your tax credit statement," SpiceJet's email to employees read.

"The Form-16 will hence be made available by next fortnight," as per company mail to employees.

Further, the top management of the company assured the employees that, "Form 16 will be available to employees by next fortnight."

In a letter written to employees by top airline management, the Airline assures that the remaining Provident Fund (PF) amount will be credited soon.

"Significant portion of PF contribution of all employees is also being credited," SpiceJet said.

SpiceJet has been incurring losses for several quarters. The promoter of the company, Ajay Singh, is preparing to sell some of his stake in the company. He holds a total 60 per cent stake in SpiceJet. Earlier, he is looking for a buyer to sell his 24 per cent stake in the company.

The company's reported loss in the June quarter stood at Rs 789 crore as against Rs 729 crore in the same quarter last year. As on June 30, the company's liabilities were Rs 6,772 crore more than its assets.

08/10/22 ANI/ETNow

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Free Falling: Will Cash-Strapped SpiceJet Follow Jet Airways’ Route?

Three years ago, India witnessed the crash of Jet Airways, one of its leading private airlines, owing to insurmountable financial troubles. Now, clouds of uncertainty seem to be hovering over SpiceJet as the low-budget airline is grappling to deal with its own money matters.

Today, SpiceJet, with no cash reserve, is walking a tightrope and is in dire need of fund infusion. Its daily operational loss has been mounting since the pandemic hit. While other players with deep pockets could withstand the onslaught, SpiceJet is still struggling with the price dilemma in a hugely price-sensitive market. 

Even with the festive season rolling in and things looking up for the aviation industry, cash-strapped SpiceJet is staring at a lean season as it is being forced to operate with a fleet half its strength over safety concerns which has only added to its woes.

So, what has brought the airlines, which looked promising around 2017-18, to its knees today? The answer lies in the company’s overambitious expansion plan, say aviation experts. Much like Jet Airways’. 

SpiceJet’s ambitions have come at the cost of profitability coupled with unforeseen circumstances such as Covid-19 and the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX, experts add.

In March 2019, after a global ban on MAX operations when two air crashes led to the death of 346 people, it had to ground 13 Boeing 737 MAX. Despite the setback, SpiceJet continued its aggressive capacity expansion plan and procured 30 Boeing 737 NG from Jet Airways.

07/10/22 Jeevan Prakash Sharma/Outlook

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Amritsar: Luggage of 50 SpiceJet passengers goes missing from Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport, 2nd incident in last 3 months

News has come to the fore from Amritsar. The incident took place on Friday morning at Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport. A lot of hustle and bustle was created as around luggage of 50 passengers went missing from the airport. Reportedly, this happened at around 3:30 am on a flight that landed from Dubai. The flight has been identified as SpiceJet SG56.

The information that has been received in this matter reveals that as the passengers of the flight went to the luggage belt post to getting custom clearance, the baggage of many was not there. This problem was then reported to the senior officials by the employees. An atmosphere of tension was created at the whole airport after which the SpiceJet officials assured the people that their luggage will be sent to their respective homes by Saturday. Later on, the passengers agreed to this and the situation came under control.

This is not the very first time that anything sort of this has happened. It was around 3 months back on the 14th of July when the luggage of many passengers was misplaced but was delivered safely after some time. It took 3 days for the whole matter to get resolved.

07/10/22 Guneet kaur/TrueScoop

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SpiceJet deposits all TDS dues, PF money of the employees

The human resource department of SpiceJet on Friday wrote to its employees, informing them that the business had submitted all tax deducted at source (TDS) dues and paid up a significant portion of all employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions, according to CNBC-TV18 sources.

SpiceJet had been unable to pay employees' Provident Fund (PF) or deposit their TDS dues with authorities for months due to a lack of funds.

The airline took a significant blow after many of its planes had technical difficulties during flights. As a result, the aviation regulator DGCA directed it to operate only half of the flights in an order issued on July 27.

This agreement was originally for eight weeks, however, it was later extended to October 29.

07/10/22 Anand Singha/CNBC TV18

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India's SpiceJet rises on report of likely $122 mln govt loan

Bengaluru: Shares of SpiceJet Ltd surged 9% on Thursday following reports the Indian budget carrier is likely to receive an additional loan of 10 billion rupees ($122.7 million) under the government's modified Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.

The government on Wednesday enhanced the maximum loan amount eligibility for airlines under the scheme to 100% of their loan outstanding to help the companies tide over cash-flow problems.

The funds will help the airline clear its dues, pay lessors on time and induct new Boeing 737 Max planes, Business Standard newspaper reported, citing sources.

The airline is currently operating less than 50% of its approved flights, following an order from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation due to multiple incidents involving its aircraft. 

Spicejet did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Bankers have also been contacted to raise $200 million, Mint reported, citing an airline official.

The report comes two weeks after the air safety watchdog extended a restriction on SpiceJet's flight departures until Oct. 29.

06/10/22 Reuters

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