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Budget-carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with aircraft lessor Goshawk Aviation Limited and its affiliated leasing entities Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Limited, Sabarmati Aviation Leasing Limited and Falgu Aviation Leasing Limited related to two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and one Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.
Goshawk Aviation Limited is one of the main lessors of the MAX aircraft of SpiceJet. The settlement with Goshawk follows SpiceJet's successful settlements with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, Credit Suisse, Boeing, CDB Aviation, BOC Aviation and Avolon. The settlement, the airline said, will allow the entry into service of two more fuel-efficient Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into the SpiceJet fleet. "The parties have agreed to settle all their disputes under and related to the aircraft lease agreements for three aircraft. The agreement, the terms of which are confidential, ends all litigation proceedings between the parties," a statement said. All proceedings, including before the UK Court and Execution Proceedings before the Delhi High Court will be withdrawn accordingly, the statement added. Separately, SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh is reportedly mulling the possibility of a partial stake sale in the airline. Singh currently reportedly holds a majority 60 per cent in the airline said the company continues to be in discussions with various investors to secure financing. "The company continues to be in discussions with various investors to secure sustainable financing and will make appropriate disclosures in accordance with applicable regulations," a SpiceJet spokesperson had recently said. Further, the low-cost carrier recently entered into a full and final settlement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and cleared all outstanding principal dues of the airport operator. SpiceJet's ability to clear the pending dues reflects the airline's improved cash flow in recent times. However, SpiceJet has been going through a highly turbulent phase in recent times on account of several glitches and a non-adherence to mandated guidelines in regard to the training of some pilots. It all started in April 2022 when the aviation watchdog the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) restrained 90 pilots of the airline from operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft, after finding they were not properly trained. Those pilots were trained on a faulty simulator, and the aviation regulator asked the airline to retrain the pilots, besides slapping a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Multiple incidents were reported this year when SpiceJet and other carriers' aircraft either turned back to their originating station or continued landing at the destination with degraded safety margins. Civil aviation regulator DGCA had recently ordered SpiceJet to operate a maximum of 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks after several of its planes reported technical malfunctions. Upon having reported repeated snags, civil aviation regulator Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Arun Kumar recently told ANI aircraft systems are reasonably robust and do have multiple redundancies but component failures do not imply that it is compromising the safety of the passengers. (ANI)
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