The civil aviation ministry informed Parliament on July 25 that a series of spot checks carried out by India’s aviation safety regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on SpiceJet’s aircraft fleet did not find “any major significant finding or safety violation."
This comes as a major vindication for SpiceJet, India’s favourite airline, which has flown with the highest passenger load factor (occupancy) for the past seven years.
The civil aviation ministry also informed Parliament that the crew of the SpiceJet flight that was diverted to Karachi on July 5 did not declare an emergency, nor was there any fuel leak in the aircraft, as had been repeatedly stated and emphasised by SpiceJet.
“A series of spot checks were carried out recently on all operating aircraft of M/s Spicejet from July 9, 2022 to July 13, 2022. A total of 53 spot checks were carried out on 48 aircraft which did not find any major significant finding or safety violation,” the aviation ministry told Rajya Sabha in a reply to a question.
SpiceJet has also rectified the defects/malfunctions identified in 10 planes by the DGCA and all these ten aircraft are back in operation. The rectification had been done immediately after the DGCA observation.
The ministry further informed Parliament that DGCA had carried out the regulatory audit of three schedule airlines including SpiceJet as per published Annual Surveillance Programme (ASP) 2022.
In reply to a separate question on a flight diversion to Karachi, the ministry said, “Cabin crew did not declare emergency. Post landing check and inspection at Karachi did not reveal fuel leak.”
“I am happy that the findings of the various checks carried out by the DGCA on our fleet have been made public by the government. SpiceJet has been running a safe airline for 17 years and this is a vindication of not only our stand but the love and trust shown by our passengers who have made SpiceJet the country’s most popular airline flying with the highest loads for the past seven years. I am glad that these findings and assessment are of none other than the DGCA, India’s topmost aviation safety agency and regulator,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet.
SpiceJet, an IATA-IOSA certified airline, also holds the envious distinction of having flown with a PLF of more than 90% for a record 58 consecutive months.
