The airline has been told to operate only 50 per cent of departures until October 29, 2022.
As a precautionary step, the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has instructed budget airline SpiceJet to continue operating just limited flights for the time being.
According to the DGCA directive, the limits were extended out of "abundant care." The airline has been instructed to fly only 50% of its scheduled departures until October 29, 2022.
SpiceJet, a low-cost carrier, announced on Tuesday that it had ordered 80 of its pilots to take a three-month unpaid leave. The move is a temporary cost-cutting measure, according to the Gurgaon-based airline.
"This measure, which is in line with SpiceJet's policy of not retrenching any employee which the airline steadfastly followed even during the peak of the Covid pandemic, will help rationalise the pilot strength vis-a-vis the aircraft fleet," the budget carrier said in a statement. The pilots who have been forced to go on leave without pay are from the airline's Boeing and Bombardier fleets.
Earlier Tuesday, a section of pilots went into a tizzy over the decision of the financially-embattled airline. "The financial crisis of the airline was known to us but the suddenness of the decision has shocked many of us. There is also uncertainty about the company's financial situation after three months. There is no assurance if those forced to go on leave will even be called back," a pilot told PTI.
Recently, the cash-strapped airline has also struggled to make timely payments to vendors and lessors, prompting some to deregister planes.
SpiceJet employees had earlier alleged delay in disbursal of salaries with the budget airline claiming that payments were being made in a "graded format".
On July 6, a SpiceJet cargo flight to Chongking had to return to Kolkata after a malfunction was detected in the aircraft's weather radar. The same day, the airline's Delhi-Dubai flight was diverted to Karachi due to a faulty fuel indicator, while its Kandla-Mumbai flight made an emergency landing in Mumbai after cracks developed on its windshield mid-air.
On July 2, a SpiceJet flight to Jabalpur returned to Delhi after smoke was detected in the cabin while the aircraft was at an altitude of 5,000 feet.
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