Twitter
Advertisement

SpiceJet trouble spills into airports

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

On Tuesday morning, city businessman Brijendra Pandey was happy to reach the airport on time for his flight to Delhi and he duly secured his boarding pass too.

“But on reaching the boarding area, I was stunned to see hundreds of agitated passengers. And I learned that not a single flight had left since morning. There was no clarity on my flight as well,” said Pandey, a frequent flyer who is in logistic business.

On being asked, airline staff said oil companies were refusing to fill fuel in SpiceJet as their dues had not been cleared. Later they clarified that dues were being paid, but were non-committal on when the flights would take off.
“Why did airline staff issue the boarding pass when they knew flights weren't taking off. Why did they not inform us?” asked Pandey, who later had to cancel his flight as well as an “all important” meeting.

Like Pandey, thousands who had booked in the debt-ridden SpiceJet airline were stranded in airports across the country. Most of the flights had either been cancelled or rescheduled.

There was major chaos at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) where agitated passengers were taking out their anger on SpiceJet staff. Of the 12 arrival and 15 departure flights, seven arriving flights were cancelled and four were delayed. And among departure flights, nine were cancelled and six delayed.

According to industry insiders, each aircraft on an average needs about Rs 7-8 lakh worth fuel for refueling. Though the price of fuel has dipped, airlines still incur considerable expenditure on fuel.

At CSIA, meanwhile, the situation improved considerably by afternoon, and passengers were accommodated in other flights or their fares refunded.

Vinod Rao, who came to drop his friend at the airport said: “My friend just informed me from inside the airport terminal that his flight had been rescheduled. It's very frustrating, especially because he was keen on being present at a family ceremony,” said Rao.

Airline has to get enough capital in a short time
Civil aviation ministry, in a statement on Tuesday evening, said SpiceJet would give a commitment on increasing sufficient capital within a short period of time. Public sector oil companies would be requested to give the airline credit for up to 15 days. (The daily off-take of the airlines is fuel worth about Rs 5 crore. Which means it would have to raise about Rs 75 crore. Its dues pending as on 15-12-2014 is Rs 14 crore).

DGCA would be asked to open up bookings of SpiceJet up to March 31, 2015. And airport operators would be requested to allow 15 days time for making payments.

Indian banks may be requested to give the airline some working capital loan based on assurances of the promoter. Banks or financial institutions can lend up to Rs 600 crore backed by personal guarantee of company chairman. This should be paid immediately after securing a long term Investment, which would take around eight weeks to consummate. And ministry of finance will be requested to permit external commercial borrowing (ECB) for working capital as special dispensation, as was done in 2012 when a similar crisis arose in the aviation sector.

 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement