SpiceJet Delays Salary Payments Again, Employees Earning Over Rs 55,000 Left Unpaid

Air carrier SpiceJet has reportedly been delaying the salary payments to its employees once again. While the SpiceJet employees drawing a salary up to Rs 55,000 per month have received the payments, the rest of the staff has not been paid yet. The air carrier has 6,484 employees on its payroll, which includes 4,894 permanent staff, as per its report of financial year 2024-25. 

"SpiceJet has once again started delaying salary payments to its staff. While employees drawing up to Rs 55,000 per month are getting payments on time, the rest of the staff, mostly Assistant Managers and above level, are getting payments with a delay of 10-15 days," news agency PTI quoted a source as saying.

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This is not the first time the cash-strapped airline has failed to pay its employees. Spicejet was earlier unable to disburse the salaries from June to August, 2024, and had reported clearing dues worth Rs 80 crore in September. The air carrier had also revealed that it did not pay statutory dues, amounting to nearly Rs 427 crore, to its employees between April 2020 to August 2024. The airline later cleared the statutory dues of the employees in October, 2024.

SpiceJet has denied any response to queries about this issue. The company reported lending an interest-free advance of Rs 32 crore to Ajay Singh, the chairman and Managing Director, for five years, with the approval from the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. 

The airline logged a net loss of Rs 238 crore in the June quarter. As the company grapples with dwindling financial strain, it is also staring at another problem.

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Depleting Fleet Of SpiceJet

The financial crisis is not the only constraint that operations face. The company had 18 aircraft in operation, as of September 13, out of the total fleet of 53 planes, as per the fleet website Planespotter.com. In the past one year, the carrier has thrice announced plans to expand its fleet, each time by at least 10 planes.

Last year in September, at the time of raising Rs 3,000 crore via QIP, the airline had said, "The newly raised capital will be used to operationalise grounded aircraft, acquire new planes, invest in technology, and expand into new markets."

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The airline had previously disclosed that a majority of its aircraft was grounded due to "alleged default" in payments to aircraft lessors, financial strain on aircraft maintenance, and unavailability of aircraft components and spare parts.