Indian aviation is poised for record-high passenger traffic, with almost all domestic airlines planning to expand their operations. However, one of the oldest airlines in the country, SpiceJet, has announced plans to reduce the scale of its operations.
The company has informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation that its weekly flights would be reduced by 26 per cent in the upcoming summer schedule 2024 from March 31 to October 26.
For the upcoming schedule, the airline’s board has approved flying 1,657 weekly flights, which is much less than the 2,240 flights and 2,132 flights it applies for in the ongoing winter schedule and last summer schedule, respectively.
SpiceJet earlier applied for a 30 per cent reduction in planned flights for summer schedule 2022 from summer schedule 2021. As more Indian airlines hurry to tackle the skyrocketing demand for air travel, SpiceJet’s decision to lessen its activities raises questions regarding their future strategy.
“Despite applying for higher planned flights as part of the winter schedule, SpiceJet could not operate all flights, and has hence cut planned flights as part of the upcoming summer schedule to avoid non-utilisation of airport slots,” a senior company executive said.
He said that the airline intends to increase capacity, but there are significant constraints to that such as ‘increasing competition for pilots and rising aircraft lease fare in the country.’
“SpiceJet has a fleet of 33 operational aircraft, including eight wet-leased planes and around 400 pilots on its payrolls at the moment. Once the new FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms kick in from June, an additional 60 to 90 pilots will be needed to operate the same number of flights, as per the winter schedule,” the executive said.
