SpiceJet

SpiceJet

IATA ICAO Callsign SG SEJ SPICEJET
Founded	2005
Commenced operations	18 May 2005 (2005-05-18)
Hubs	Chennai International Airport (Chennai) Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad)[1]
Secondary hubs	Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai)
Focus cities	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (Ahmedabad) Kempegowda International Airport (Bangalore) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) Cochin International Airport (Kochi)
Fleet size	34
Destinations	40[2]
Company slogan	Red. Hot. Spicy.
Headquarters	Gurgaon, Haryana, India[3]
Key people	Ajay Singh (CMD) Kiran Koteshwar (CFO) G.P Gupta (CAO) Debojo Maharshi (CMO)
Revenue	US$ 795.253 million (2015)
Net income	US$ -101.52 million (2015)
Total assets	US$ -474.45 million (2015)
Employees	4,185 (2015)
Website	spiceJet.com

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It is India's fourth largest airline by number of passengers carried, with market share of 12.3% as of July 2015.^[4] The airline operates more than 270 daily flights to 40 destinations, including 34 Indian and 6 international cities.^[2][5]

History

1993–1996: ModiLuft era

The origins of SpiceJet track back to February 1993 when ModiLuft was launched by Indian industrialist S K Modi, in technical partnership with the German flag carrier Lufthansa. The airline ceased operations in 1996.

2005–2013: Inception and expansion

In 2004, raised funds and restarted operations as SpiceJet following the low-cost model.^[6] SpiceJet leased 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.^[7] On 7 March 2005, the Airports Authority of India approved three overnight parking slots to SpiceJet, with two in Delhi and one in Mumbai.^[8] SpiceJet opened bookings on 18 May 2005.^[9] The first flight was flagged off by then Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel. The first Boeing 737-800 aircraft left Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 24 May 2005.^[10] By 2008, it was India's second-largest low-cost carrier in terms of market share.

Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran acquired 37.7% stake in Spicejet in June 2010.^[11][12] In 2012, SpiceJet suffered from a loss of over ₹390 million (US$5.7 million) owing to increase in global crude prices.^[13] On 9 January 2012, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, reported that several airlines in India, including SpiceJet, have not maintained crucial data for the flight operations quality assurance or the FOQA.^[14] The Bombay stock exchange announced that ever since June 2011, Spicejet had been suffering losses.^[15] In 2012, Despite the losses, Kalanithi Maran increased his stake in Spicejet by investing ₹1 billion (US$15 million) in the airline.^[16] The airline returned to making profits at the end of the year.^[17] In 2013, SpiceJet launched its first interline pact with Tigerair on 16 December 2013.

2014-present: Downturn and upswing

In July 2014, SpiceJet announced up to 50 per cent discounts due to competition.^[18] In August 2014, SpiceJet became the second largest carrier in India's domestic market, in terms of passengers carried in the month of July, beating leading full service carrier Jet Airways for the first time in its operational history.^[19] In December 2014, SpiceJet cancelled many domestic flights across the country.^[20] Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued warning over non payment of salaries and dues, while the airport operators moved to put the carrier on cash-and-carry mode, which means the airline can use the facilities of an airport only upon immediate payment.^[21] On December 17, all flights were grounded after oil companies refused to refuel its planes.^[22] Flights resumed the next day.^[23] In January 2015, the Sun group sold its entire shareholding to the airline's founder Ajay Singh and transferred control.^[24]

At the end of 2015, SpiceJet's operations experienced a significant upswing with 93% of available seats on flights being filled and only 0.13% of scheduled flights canceled each month. SpiceJet was profitable in three consecutive quarters, in contrast to the previous five quarters when they lost money.^[25]

Destinations

SpiceJet Boeing 737-900ER taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad

SpiceJet currently operates over 290 flights daily to 34 Indian and 9 international destinations. The airline flies Boeing 737-800 and −900ERs nd Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s. After completing 5 years of flying, SpiceJet was allowed to commence international flights by the Airports Authority of India on 7 September 2010. SpiceJet launched flights from Delhi to Kathmandu and Chennai to Colombo. The first international flight took off on 7 October 2010 from the Delhi airport.^[26] In April 2011, SpiceJet announced that they chose Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport as the primary base for its new fleet of Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft.^[27] On 12 January 2012, SpiceJet's fleet went up to 40 as Boeing delivered a brand new 737-800 aircraft.^[28]

Fleet

Spice Jet placed its first firm order for 20 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s in March 2005, with deliveries scheduled up to 2010.^[29] Again in November 2010, Spice Jet order for another 30 Boeing 737-800s with winglets in the presence of the American president, Barack Obama. Neil Mills, the chief executive officer of SpiceJet said "We are extremely satisfied with the Next-Generation 737—an airplane that is reliable, allows for greater efficiency in maintenance and supports the business plan for low-cost carriers".^[30] On 9 December 2010, Bombardier Aerospace announced that SpiceJet placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has also placed an option to buy another 15 of those. SpiceJet used its fleet of Q400s for short-haul operations.^[31] Each aircraft in the SpiceJet fleet is named after a spice^[32][33] SpiceJet sold five of its old Boeing 737-800 to other operators on receiving new ones. One of the five was SpiceJet's own which is now in the possession of Somon Air.^[34] In February 2012, SpiceJet announced that it would take the delivery of ten more aircraft during 2012, of which seven would be the Bombardier Q400.^[35] In April 2015, the airline introduced 3 wet leased Boeing 737-800 from Prague-based Travel Service (airline) on a short term agreement.^[36]

Current fleet

As of February 2016, the airline has the following fleet:^[37]

Spice Jet names its all aircraft with a name of Indian Spices like Haldi, Dhaniya, Sauf, Fenugreek etc. One of their addition in June 2015 was VT-SZK named "Red Chilli", which was painted in "With all our Hearts" special Colours, portraying the Two Captains and 4 Cabin Crew on the either sides of the flight at front, who flew the first flight from Delhi to Mumbai, on either side of the aircraft.^[40]

Spice Jet's Bombardier Q400 VT-SUE at Mangalore Airport

SpiceJet currently has a fleet consisting of 2 Numbers of Boeing 737-700 leased from Apollo Aviation (all in Anadolu Jet Livery), 19 Boeing 737-800 (Out of which 3 Leased from Travel Service (all in travel service livery), 4 leased from BBAM, 3 from ALC, 3 from AWAC, 2 from ICBC, 1 from MCAP, 1 from BOC), 4 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft (all leased from BBAM and in Spice Jet Livery) and 15 Bombardier Q400 aircraft (1 Aircraft had been stored following accidents).^[41] Spicejet is one of the very few operators in India to operate Bombardier Q400 series De Havilland Canada DHC-8-402Q Dash 8.

In addition to this it also operates an Airbus A319 LZ-AOA, on short term wet-lease from BH Air, the only Airbus aircraft in SpiceJet's operations.^[42] The airline is in process to increase its Boeing jet fleet to 25-26 from current 20 by the end of 2015 by leasing more Boeing 737 aircraft.^[43] In August, the airline announced that it will wet-lease 5 more aircraft during the winter 2015 season to re-launch 40 more daily flights which were earlier ceased due to shortage of aircraft.^[44]

New aircraft order

In March 2014, Spice jet signed a $4.4 Bn deal with Boeing for procurement of 42 737-8 MAX aircraft.^[45] Spice Jet also in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for a possible order of more than 100 single aisle aircraft, either Airbus A320neo or the familiar Boeing 737MAX.^[46] The order of more than 150 planes was confirmed by the Managing Director, Ajay Singh in a conference in Dubai.^[47]

Accidents and Incidents

• On 29 July 2013,SG 3291 a Spice jet bombardier Q-400 carrying 49 passengers from Chennai to Tuticorin had a tail strike while landing on the short runway triggering panic among passengers.
• On 3 September 2013, SG 3291, a Spice Jet Bombardier Q400 from Chennai to Tuticorin landed and the engine started smoking due to an oil spillage. Water and foam was used to contain the smoke.
• On 6 November 2014, a Spice Jet Ltd. Boeing 737-800 VT-SGK performing flight number SG-622 operating Surat - Delhi collided into a buffalo during take-off from the Surat Airport. Though none of the 140 passengers on board or 6 crew members were injured, the aircraft engine sustained serious damage and was grounded at the airport for more than two months.^[48] After this incident, Spice jet indefinitely suspended all operations to and from Surat Airport, citing lax security at the airport.^[49]
• On 4 December 2015, a Spice jet Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 registration VT-SUC, was operating as Spice jet Flight 2458 from Mumbai to Jabalpur, was landing at Jabalpur when the aircraft collided with a herd of 30-40 wild boars. 3 boars were killed and the aircraft skidded off the runway coming to a stop with the left gear collapsed, left engine damage, and other unknown damage caused by the impact. Despite the damage, no serious passenger injuries were reported.^[50][51]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SpiceJet.

• Official website