Spicejet

History

SpiceJet traces its roots to ModiLuft, an air-taxi operator founded in 1984, whose operating shell was acquired and relaunched as the low-cost carrier SpiceJet in 2004, with commercial flights starting 24 May 2005. Media entrepreneur Kalanidhi Maran's Sun Group took a controlling stake in 2010, but the airline returned to founder-linked control when Ajay Singh regained ownership in January 2015 and began a turnaround. SpiceJet subsequently expanded with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which were grounded worldwide from 2019, compounding financial strain. India's aviation regulator (DGCA) placed the airline under enhanced safety surveillance in 2022 after a string of technical incidents, temporarily capping its flight schedule. Chronic cash shortages, unpaid dues to lessors, vendors and employees, and COVID-19-era losses have left SpiceJet in a prolonged financial crisis that, as of 2026, it is still working to resolve through fundraising and fleet restoration.

Current Operations

SpiceJet remains active but financially fragile as of 2026. Its operational fleet has been reduced to roughly two dozen aircraft (a mix of Boeing 737s, leased Airbus A320s, and Bombardier/De Havilland Q400 turboprops) out of a nominal fleet of around 60, with a large share of aircraft grounded for years for lack of spare parts, maintenance funding and lease payments. Chairman Ajay Singh and the company have pursued repeated recapitalizations to keep the airline flying, including a roughly ₹3,000 crore (about $360 million) qualified institutional placement approved in September 2024 that was used to clear months of salary, GST and provident-fund arrears and to begin ungrounding aircraft, with management targeting a 100-aircraft fleet by 2026. SpiceJet continues to operate domestic and limited international routes from its main bases at Delhi and Hyderabad, but its on-time performance, market share and overall scale remain well below its pre-2019 peak, and its ability to sustain a full recovery is still viewed as uncertain by industry analysts.

Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.

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