A day before India's civil aviation regulator cracked down on budget airline SpiceJet, ordering it to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks due to safety concerns, the airline had claimed that "every plane has been given the green signal to fly" and there has been no safety violation according to a Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) audit of its entire operational fleet.
"India's most-preferred airline is as safe and reliable as it has been for the last 17 years. Aviation regulator DGCA audited our entire operational fleet and every plane has been given the green signal to fly and there has been no safety violation," SpiceJet tweeted yesterday morning.
The DGCA order today read, "In view of findings of various spot checks, inspections and the reply to the show cause notice submitted by SpiceJet, for continued sustenance of safe and reliable air transport service, the number of departures of SpiceJet are restricted to 50% of the number of departures approved... for a period of eight weeks."
The regulator said SpiceJet had "failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable air transport service".
During these eight weeks, the airline would be subjected to "enhanced surveillance" by the DGCA.
This could be the most stringent action any airline has faced in recent times.
The government had warned SpiceJet after eight incidents of flight safety were reported in a matter of 18 days.
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