Looking at the troubles Spicejet is undergoing at the moment, the regulator for aviation safety in India, DGCA, ordered them to stop accepting bookings beyond the 30 day period, amongst other measures they took against the airline over last weekend.

First things first, here on, because Spicejet’s schedule integrity has gone for a toss, the DGCA ordered it to stop bookings for a period more than 30 days out. Initially, Spicejet did not comply with this decision, however here on, you cannot book Spicejet tickets more than 30 days out. Their website displays this notification very clearly. When I tried searching for a ticket more than 30 days out, I got nothing.

However, they are still selling tickets for the period up to 30 days. Existing reservations for 2015 are not in danger at the moment, and the regulator has not ordered for tickets more than a month out to be refunded.

I think this is a precarious situation, where the regulator is trying to save the passengers from inconvenience by making sure the airline does not take on more on its plate, but it will harm the business for SpiceJet in return. The airline is already under a financially stressed condition, and right now a middle-path should be arrived at with the vendors including Airports rather than pushing the airline off the cliff and hastening their demise.

Right now, the Airport Authority of India has also worked towards being a part of the problem by asking SG to be put on cash and carry across the country wherever they are at an AAI operated airport (which is most of them!)

The airline is in about USD 2 billion of debt at the moment, as per media reports, and needs someone to take on a stake in the airline to clear up this debt. Of course, it has been one of the longest running low-cost carriers in India, and has gone through its fair share of turbulence with a bad economy.

I hope they survive to see another day.

Have any of you seen cancellations on your SG flights and how has the airline dealt with your situations?

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