New Delhi: India will allow SpiceJet The country’s air security watchdog told Reuters it would resume flights in a “graded manner” once the airline showed sufficient engineering strength and financial ability to stock parts.
Last week, in an unprecedented move, the DGCA reduced SpiceJet’s approved departures by 50% for a period of 8 weeks after an audit disclosed the airline’s inability to establish “a safe, efficient and reliable” service. .
Putting SpiceJet under “enhanced surveillance”, the regulator said in its notice that the airline had “poor internal safety oversight”, and there was a “persistent shortage of spares” due to financial issues at the carrier.
Head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Arun KumarSpiceJet will be allowed to restore its capacity, but gradually and once it has demonstrated that it has rectified the shortage of manpower and spare parts, the CAG said.
“At the moment we think they can only operate at 50% of their capacity without compromising on security,” Kumar said during an interview at Prahari’s headquarters in Delhi.
Kumar said a review of SpiceJet’s operations and the airline’s physical audit revealed that the carrier was “incompetent” to fly at full capacity.
“The decision is a pre-emptive step to ensure that there are no future safety issues and does not imply that the airline is not fit to fly. We do not aim to disrupt service.”
SpiceJet did not respond to a request for comment on DGCA’s comments.
The airline has earlier said that it is confident of scaling up its operations and addressing any concerns of the regulator.
SpiceJet has reported nearly a dozen safety incidents since May, including a side windshield outer pane that broke mid-flight and a bad indicator light, prompting the DGCA on July 5 to issue a notice to the airline asking why. No action should be taken. against it.
Kumar said that since then SpiceJet has shown improvement in its operations.
“Aircraft is a complex machine. When components break down or wear out… a process needs to be followed to deal with it,” Kumar said.
With the domestic aviation market reaching pre-pandemic levels, new airlines coming on board and old ones expanding, Kumar said the DGCA is looking to hire more people to maintain oversight of the sector. .
The regulator conducts 3,700 investigations a year and currently has around 1,300 employees to do so. Kumar said it plans to add 400 more to its technical team mainly in the next one year.
“It’s a matter of making ourselves more strong to take on the growth in the market,” he said.
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