There is fresh trouble brewing for cash-strapped Indian carrier SpiceJet. The companies that leased aircraft to the airline have now approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to cancel the registration of four Boeing 737-8 Max jets. In an unusual twist, the airline itself confirmed on Monday that these four planes have been out of service for a long time, and that removing their registration will actually ease the lease rental burden weighing on the company.
Who moved, and under which rule
The applications have been filed by two Ireland-based suppliers, Sky High LXXX Leasing Company Limited and Sky High LXXVII Leasing Company Limited. They have invoked the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation, better known as IDERA, for these aircraft. This mechanism gives a company that leases out planes the right to approach the aviation regulator directly to take back its aircraft, meaning it no longer has to wait on the airline's cooperation to reclaim its assets.
Last year's law changed the game
The move ties back to a key aviation bill that Parliament passed last year. That legislation made it far simpler for global aircraft leasing companies to reclaim their jets and engines if an Indian airline defaults on its payments, cutting out much of the earlier legal tangle. The current development is a direct reflection of that changed legal landscape.
What SpiceJet says
A SpiceJet spokesperson explained that the aircraft have been grounded for a long time because of manufacturing issues linked to the engines' high pressure turbine (HPT). "The deregistration of these aircraft will reduce the lease rental cost incurred on them. This will have no impact on the airline's operations," the spokesperson said. They added that the company is in talks with the supplier and the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to bring these planes back into service.
Most of the fleet is on the ground
SpiceJet's real strain shows up in its numbers. The airline, which is battling financial and legal challenges, currently has just 11 aircraft in service, while 42 planes, roughly 80 percent of its total fleet, sit idle and gathering dust on the ground. As of Monday, the carrier was managing to operate only about 60 flights using barely 12 aircraft. Not long ago, a SpiceJet plane suffered a tyre burst on the runway at Darbhanga airport in Bihar, an incident that put the airline's woes back in the spotlight.
