This Article is From Sep 03, 2021

150 SpiceJet Delhi Staff Walk Out Over Dues, Airline Says Issue Resolved

The strike at SpiceJet came amid allegations of safety violations and stressful working conditions for pilots levelled by a former captain that have been refuted by the airline.

SpiceJet said flight operations were not affected.

New Delhi:

Around 150 employees of SpiceJet struck work today at the Delhi airport complaining of non-payment of dues but the airline said the issue involving "a section" of staff has been resolved and operations were not affected.

"The issue with a section of SpiceJet employees at the Delhi airport has been resolved and the employees have returned to work. SpiceJet's flight operations remain normal," the airline said in a statement.

This comes at a time when an ex-pilot of the airline in a letter to the aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has claimed that the airline was violating safety norms and that pilots were under severe stress because of salary cuts.

The Director-General of Civil Aviation has acknowledged this letter and has said it "will look into the issues raised in the letter pertaining to safety violations"

The complaint letter, written by Captain Vinodh Loganathan who has now left the airline has alleged that during the coronavirus pandemic, "SpiceJet, for commercial benefit started overfilling cargo inside the cabin up to the ceiling of the aircraft which was against the guidelines of DGCA which made flying the aircraft unsafe."

Referring to the salary situation with airline staff, Captain Loganathan said, "The pilots, crew, engineers, ground staff are already financially stressed out because of more than a year-long exploitation by SpiceJet's promoter. The pilots are not in the right state of mind to safely operate flights."

This is the second email written by the ex-Captain. In a statement yesterday, SpiceJet has refuted the charges and said the pilot was "disgruntled".

"The pilot in question had no complaints as long as he was enjoying pay and perks at SpiceJet. There were no safety issues with the airline nor ever did he highlight any violations. Once out of the company, a disgruntled ex-employee having an agenda can level any allegation."

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