A day after the Delhi High Court asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to deregister six aircraft being operated by SpiceJet on a complaint from two leasing companies, the airline has said that in parallel with the court proceedings, discussions have been ongoing with the lessors for an amicable settlement.

"SpiceJet fully expects the matter will be resolved shortly and positively with the lessors, and there will be no grounding of aircraft or disruption of operations,” the media statement adds.

Also read: Travel agents cautious on selling SpiceJet tickets

The statement said that the airline has reached "in-principle understanding” with one of the two lessors already, and is in advanced discussions with the other lessor.

"SpiceJet is exploring all legal remedies to safeguard its interest to maintain continuity of operations, the statement adds.

The statement points out that these cases originated when the airline was in financial crisis in December 2014, before change of ownership and the infusion of fresh funding. In January, Ajay Singh entered into an agreement with Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group which saw the entire 58.46 per cent holding of Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways Private Limited in SpiceJet being transferred to Singh. Though the deal was inked on January 15, the share transfer happened only towards the end of February.

The airline has tried to "assure” its partners and customers that the situation of the airline is very different from what it was in late 2014, and that it has received its first tranche of funding already and is in the process of paying off creditors in a phased manner.

"All taxes have been paid, all salaries are current, and several lessors who supported the airline during the crisis have already been paid off in full while payment plan discussions are actively ongoing with remaining lessors. Operations are normal, on-time performance now amongst the top 2 in the country, and confidence in the market is high” the statement points out.

It adds that as part of the revival plan, SpiceJet is also in the process of adding more aircraft to the fleet and expects to add 8-9 Boeings starting in April to take the active Boeing fleet to 25-26 aircraft in the summer, in addition to the 15 Bombardier Q400 aircraft that are owned by SpiceJet.

SpiceJet will continue to add more aircraft in the second half of the year to take the Boeing fleet up to 34-35 aircraft by the end of the year, the statement adds.

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