[Ripcord09]

Running an airline is complicated. It costs a lot of money, competition is fierce and profits are hard to come by. That’s the reason why many airlines across the globe struggle to survive, and the story is no different in India. Just ask Jet Airways which collapsed in 2019, or Go First that shut down in 2023, and even the former national carrier - Air India - requiring a Tata Group bailout. In a market like this, survival is victory and a few players emerge unscathed.

And that brings us to SpiceJet. For years it’s been seen as a losing bet ― a company constantly struggling to stay afloat, bogged down by financial troubles and dwindling market share. But now, it seems to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In Q3FY25, the airline made a profit of ₹26 crores. That’s a big change from the ₹300 crores in losses it had in the same quarter last year.

In 2021, its liabilities hit ₹14,000 crores, and it was struggling to pay its bills. The pandemic made things worse, and at one point, the airline was defaulting on payments to aircraft lessors, who even took the company to insolvency courts. But SpiceJet knew it had to fix this mess if it wanted a shot at survival.

So, in 2024 it raised ₹3,000 crores through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). Out of this, about ₹2,300 crores was used to clear debts, pay off creditors and settle employee payments. On top of this QIP, the airline also renegotiated what it owed. It managed to settle ₹1,700 crores worth of aircraft and engine lessor disputes for just ₹1,200 crores, effectively saving ₹500 crores in the process.

For context, in 2019 the airline had 118 aircraft, but by 2024, it was down to just 39. And today, thanks to new funding, SpiceJet is rebuilding and it’s planning to have over 100 aircraft by 2026.

One key metric here is to look at its Passenger Load Factor (PLF), which shows how full a carrier’s flights are. SpiceJet has consistently maintained a PLF of over 80%. In Q3FY25, PLF stood at 87%, continuing its trend from the last year when PLF remained at 92% (the highest in industry). Another important number here is the Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer (RASK), which stood at ₹4.57 per km in the latest quarter, and this has been witnessing a rising trend over the last few years.

SpiceJet’s domestic market share is just 3.2% today ― far lower than its peak of 17% in 2014. Sure, it has improved from its lowest point of 2% in September 2024, but it still trails behind competitors.

Then there’s the issue of service quality. On-time performance (OTP) is a major factor for customers choosing any airline. In January 2025, IndiGo had the highest OTP at 75.5%, followed by Akasa Air at 71.5%, and Air India Group clocking 69.8%. As for SpiceJet, it ranked the lowest at just 54.8%, while also ranking poorly with its flight cancellations issues. It clocked the highest cancellation rate at 1.8% in 2024, compared to IndiGo’s 1.1%.

Right after SpiceJet reported its profit, its stock witnessed a drop. The reason? Some believe that the company isn’t fully transparent with its financial disclosures. And investors are questioning whether the reported turnaround is truly sustainable or if the company is simply propping up numbers with short-term fixes.

The airline has undeniably made progress. CEO Ajay Singh’s strategy is keeping it afloat, helping it restructure its finances and chart a path for growth it once could never have imagined. But to win over investors, it needs to deliver consistent results over multiple quarters. So yeah, maybe SpiceJet’s turnaround is a promising start. But whether it’s truly built to last is a question only time will answer.

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[GTO]

In 2022, they had way too many safety incidents! The news of running on fumes didn't help either, and I'll personally never fly with an airliner who doesn't have cash to pay the bills. The data shows that their on-time reliability is last.

Am happy to see a healthier SpiceJet as more competition will make the skies better for us customers. But I'm not flying with SpiceJet anytime soon. I believe my last flight with them was in 2013 for the Ford EcoSport media drive.

[V.Narayan]

This article sounds like an attempt to boost Spicejet's flailing fortunes. I would not jump onto a Spicejet flight anytime soon. Without a change in ownership and management this airline will remain a very poor country cousin to Indigo and a hopefully revived Air India. Controversial to say this but you cannot run a complex business like an airline while keeping one foot in politics and and one eye on a future seat of power.

[SoumenD]

Do they still use the 737 max? I am yet to try akasa as I am scared of that airplane after hearing about its horror stories.

[xenon0025]

I have taken Spicejet flights 4 times in the last 6 months on the Pune - Bhavnagar route as it is the only airline serving this route. They use the Bombardier Q-400 turboprop planes for this route. I have always found the Spicejet service to be better than Indigo. I do hope they sustain and continue to grow. We need competition.

[souvikjana83]

Spicejet is one of the first low cost carrier which started in India with Air Deccan and it was quite good during its initial years of operations. With the growing demand in the aviation sector today, both Spicejet and Akasa, if can work diligently on its performance and on time reliability, should come out smiling. It's a long and hard road ahead for them with the duopoly of Indigo and Tata controlling majority of profitable routes but I definitely hope these smaller low cost carriers also improve and expand their wings in the skies and they also get to fly on the major profitable routes to earn good.

[jigar1791@gmail]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Do they still use the 737 max? I am yet to try akasa as I am scared of that airplane after hearing about its horror stories.

SpiceJet (SG), Akasa (QP), and AI Express (IX) all own and operate multiple B737 variants in their fleets.

While it's true that the B737 model has faced serious quality issues globally, resulting in several aircraft being grounded and certified unfit to fly until safety checks and necessary updates were completed, there haven't been any reports of fleet grounding incidents involving Indian carriers' B737 fleets due to such concerns.

Having personally flown on QP and IX B737s and haven't experienced any issues in-flight. Although SpiceJet (SG) has seen some of its fleet being grounded, the reasons are largely financial constraints rather than fleet-specific operational safety concerns.

As of today, flying on a B737 is just as safe as flying on an A320, especially considering that past issues have been rectified and the aircraft are subject to stringent safety checks.

[sou_3749]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Do they still use the 737 max? I am yet to try akasa as I am scared of that airplane after hearing about its horror stories.

737 max is as good or bad as A320 Neo as far as the horror stories go. Both had their share of misfortunes. Having said that 737 Max is a new generation airplane. I have travelled multiple times in QP recently, I found it to be better than A320 in terms of leg space, noise and turbulence (may be because of winglets). The only better airbus is A321 which is superior in all aspects in short haul journeys.

Don't worry, all planes are safe if maintained properly and flown by good pilots.

Unless god has different plans.

[dass]

I won't be in a hurry to get onboard SpiceJet anytime soon. I've had multiple issues with them even during their peak performance years of 2014, with flight delays, charging extra for luggage due to faulty weighing machine and non available customer support. I haven't flown them since and even if they are cheaper on certain segments I prefer the others.

With the safety concerns that were raised in the past 2 years or so, it will take a lot of effort on their part to rebuild their customer base.

[Kickdown]

Never flying SpiceJet again, ever. Or atleast hoping that I don't have to.

Had the most pathetic experience while flying SpiceJet Pune to Goa as recently as January 2025. They cancelled the flight just one hour before the scheduled departure. How irresponsible can a service provider be? The funny thing is that before the cancellation the status on their portal was being displayed as 'On-time' not even delayed. So all passengers had to reach the airport as per the schedule. And then there was chaos at the SpiceJet counter as expected. The executive at the counter were as inefficient as can be. Their only answer for all queries was "Sir, we will refund full amount". No other alternative. I finally had to travel the next day via Indigo.

Getting the refund was another pain in the neck task. First they said 7 days then 21 days and finally after multiple follow up got the refund 20 days later.

My advise is if someone wants a hassle-free travel experience, avoid SpiceJet.

[neerajku]

Public knowledge that Spicejet changed hands due to change in the ruling dispensation. Now some of these corporate leaders are savvy and once they get an entry they make the best of the rent permit quota kind of benefits. Some are even more savvy and can compete with the best once they get a foothold. There are some who just cant run a business and need constant props of Govt giveaways. Spice Jet ownership seems to be in the last category.