150 SpiceJet cabin crew members to be put on furlough for 3 months amid financial crisis

Earlier in the day, SpiceJet said its scheduled flights from Dubai are operating normally now after flight cancellations due to operational reasons

Crisis-hit budget carrier SpiceJet on Thursday announced that it will put 150 cabin crew members on furlough for three months due to the lean travel season and the reduced fleet size of the airline.

A SpiceJet spokesperson said on the development," We deeply value the contributions of our crew members. During this furlough period, they will continue to retain their status as employees of SpiceJet, with all health benefits and earned leave intact."

"As we work toward enhancing our fleet following the upcoming Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), we look forward to welcoming our crew members back to active duty. We are committed to supporting our employees during this period," the spokesperson further said.

The shares of Spicejet closed on Thursday at Rs 66.23 up by 6.38%.

Meanwhile, DGCA decided to place crisis-hit SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance that will entail increased spot checks and night surveillance to ensure safety of the airline's operations.

Based on reports of cancellation of flights and financial stress being experienced by SpiceJet, DGCA said it conducted a special audit of the airline's engineering facilities on August 7 and 8 and certain deficiencies were found during the audit.

"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," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release. In 2023 also, the regulator had placed SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance.

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.