Cash-strapped airline SpiceJet’s Boeing 737 fleet will be increased to 26 from 19 as soon as the new promoters take control, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday. Late last year, the airline had a fleet of 35 Boeing 737 aircraft which allowed it to operate 345 daily flights. But a cash crunch forced the airline to return some Boeing 737s to leasing companies, a move which saw its daily flights decline to 230.
On January 15, to overcome the cash crunch problem, the SpiceJet board decided to transfer ownership, management and control of the airline to former promoter Ajay Singh, as proposed by principal shareholder and promoter, Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways.
Before the board proposal transferring ownership, management and control of the airline to Singh it was controlled by billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group.
While details of the deal have not yet been made public, Singh plans to tie up with JP Morgan to pump in $200 million into the cash-strapped airline. On December 5, the airline had an outstanding of ₹1,600 crore to various creditors. Worried over the financial health of the airline, some aircraft leasing companies had approached the Directorate General of Civil Aviation seeking to repossess 11 of the 19 Boeing 737 aircraft, official sources said. But after the new promoters met with the leasing companies some of them decided against the move, a senior Ministry official said.