During an uneventful flight between Ahmedabad, India, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 30 November, the SpiceJet Boeing 737-800 (registered VT-SLM) suddenly had to divert to nearby Dubai World Central. The reason was not weather or air traffic related. Once the aircraft landed, it was greeted by lessors.
Passengers left the aircraft, which was seized and grounded shortly after (and currently still is). Website Thehindu.com asked Carlyle Aviation Partners for a response, but the lessor of the Boeing 737-800 and also owning a 7.5% stake in the low-cost airline after $100 million in unpaid debts were converted into equity, didn’t provide one.
Industry sources close to the airline told Thehindu.com that an undisclosed engine lessor obtained a court order to get the aircraft grounded to remove and reclaim the engines.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said that the aircraft diverted after an ex-parte order but believed that the Boeing 737 will be flown back to India very soon.
SpiceJet continues to grapple with challenges, witnessing a sharp decline in its fleet size from 76 in April 2019 to 55 presently. Over 27 aircraft remain grounded due to maintenance issues and financial constraints.
Multiple lessors, including Aircastle, Celestial Aviation, Wilmington Trust, and Willis Lease Finance Corporation, have sought insolvency resolution against SpiceJet for unpaid dues. Willis Lease Finance’s plea was recently dismissed by the National Company Law Tribunal.
In a separate legal battle, the Supreme Court threatened to send SpiceJet’s chairman, Ajay Singh, to jail over a $1.5 million payment delay to Credit Suisse, part of a longstanding dispute dating back to 2015 involving unpaid dues of around $24 million.
In July 2022, SpiceJet was put under increased scrutiny of Indian aviation authorities (DGCA) after several incidents. Furthermore, several suppliers and vendors were not paid on a regular basis leading to a shortage of spare parts and the frequent use of aircraft’s minimum equipment list (MEL: a categorised list of on-board systems, instruments and equipment that may be inoperative for flight in a specified aircraft model). The DGCA then forced the airline to cut flights by 50% during eight weeks.