Reason Explained: Why DGCA Ordered SpiceJet flights to be reduced by 50%

One of the biggest Aviation news that is hitting the headlines today is SpiceJet flights being reduced by 50 percent. This decision was taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)—India’s aviation safety regulator—in order to make efforts for a safe and unfailing air transport service. It all started when the SpiceJet flights witnessed a series of technical malfunctions over the past few months.

Overall, there has been eight incidents that were reported in 17 days, and this brought the low-cost carrier in a tight spotlight. Therefore, DGCA has ordered Ajay Singh-promoted SpiceJet to restrict the flight schedule by 50% for the next eight weeks. It has been announced by the DGCA that during the given eight weeks, the budget carrier id going to be subjected to improved surveillance. On the other hand, SpiceJet on July 27 released an official statement that stated the DGCA notice is not going to impact their operations.

DGCA Notice to SpiceJet

The DGCA has ordered a short-term notice to SpiceJet which states that the low-cost carrier is going to be subjected to higher surveillance by the regulator. The DGCA Notice was issued on Wednesday after a series of SpiceJet’s technical malfunctions was reported over the last few months. According to the DGCA Notice, SpiceJet can’t exceed their number of departures to more than 50 per cent for at least the next eight weeks.

By looking at the approved Summer Schedule for 2022, which will be actively operative till October 29, SpiceJet was scheduled for operating 4,192 departures each week. As per to the executives of the industry, SpiceJet has not been functioning at full capacity over the past few months. Now, after the DGCA Notice, this budget carrier is going to be able to operate not over 2,096 flights in a week for the upcoming eight weeks.

SpiceJet Reaction to DGCA Notice

After getting the DGCA Notice, SpiceJet has also officially reacted on July 27 (Wednesday), assuring their passengers as well as the travel partners that their operations are still going to continue very smoothly.

On Twitter, SpiceJet tweeted that they are in receipt of the DGCA order and they are going to act according to the directions given by the regulator. They further said that their airline had already rescheduled the flights because of the on-going lean travel season. They concluded their statement by mentioning that the notice will not impact their flight operations.

In one of their other tweets, SpiceJet also praised DGCA’s decision by stating that the regulator observation towards SpiceJet regarding the trend of recent incidents is “very encouraging.” The airline said that they are going to continue to work under the close supervision of the DGCA.