SpiceJet

Is SpiceJet safe?

SpiceJet has never had a fatal crash, and the risk on any single flight is still very low. But its maintenance record is weaker than IndiGo's or Akasa Air's. India's regulator has put it under extra watch three times since 2022, once halving its flights, and the airline's financial troubles are the reason the regulator gave each time. We score it 63, below IndiGo and Akasa Air and a little above Air India's group.

The 2022 order to halve flights

In the 18 days from 19 June to 5 July 2022, SpiceJet aircraft had eight technical malfunctions, among them a cracked windshield, a fuel indicator fault that led to a diversion to Karachi and smoke in the cabin. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a show-cause notice that said "poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions" had degraded safety margins. It also said a DGCA financial review in September 2021 had found SpiceJet running on a "cash-and-carry" basis, with unpaid suppliers, spare-parts shortages and frequent use of the minimum equipment list, which lets an aircraft fly with some items inoperative.

On 27 July 2022, the DGCA limited SpiceJet to 50% of its approved summer departures for eight weeks under enhanced surveillance. The cap was later extended, and full capacity returned at the end of October 2022.

Surveillance in 2023 and 2024

Enhanced surveillance means more spot checks, including at night. It was reported again in July 2023 (SpiceJet disputed the reports), and it came back in 2024. After a special audit of SpiceJet's engineering facilities on 7 and 8 August 2024 found "certain deficiencies", the DGCA cited "the past record" and placed the airline under enhanced surveillance at a time when it was cancelling flights over unpaid airport dues. It lifted the regime on 15 October 2024, after 266 spot checks, saying SpiceJet had corrected the deficiencies and raised new money (about ₹3,000 crore from investors).

Accidents and serious incidents

SpiceJet's three hull lossesHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary were all on landing:

• 8 March 2015, Hubli: a Q400 was written off in a landing accident; nobody died.
• 4 December 2015, Jabalpur: a second Q400 was written off after landing.
• 1 July 2019, Mumbai: a Boeing 737-800 from Jaipur overran in heavy rain. The AAIB found a stable approach on autopilot but an extended flare and late touchdown when flown by hand.

On 1 May 2022, flight SG945 from Mumbai flew into severe turbulence descending towards Durgapur. Passengers who were eating with their belts off hit the ceiling; the AAIB counted 18 injured passengers, and one died of his injuries in September. The AAIB blamed poor crew coordination and the decision to fly through bad weather, and noted repeated weather-radar faults on the aircraft before the flight.

The AAIB has also investigated a runway overshoot at Shirdi in April 2019 and a landing on a closed runway at Hyderabad in January 2020. More recently, on 12 September 2025, a Q400 lost a main wheel on take-off from Kandla and flew on to Mumbai, where it landed safely with 75 people on board (AeroInside).

Fleet and finances in 2026

The active fleet is now very small. In July 2026, InsideFlyer counted nine 737s and two Q400s in service. Four 737 MAX 8s, grounded since 2025 with engine problems, were being repossessed after their lessors asked the DGCA to deregister them. SpiceJet has added three leased A320s and says it wants many more aircraft, but most of its jets in service are 737-800s and -700s close to 20 years old. Several lessors have insolvency petitions against it before the National Company Law Tribunal.

Older aircraft are not unsafe if they are maintained, but SpiceJet's problems have been about exactly that: money for parts and engineering. SpiceJet is an IATA member, so it holds IOSA registrationIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, and India has FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary.

If you book SpiceJet

• Choose a flexible fare. With so few aircraft, one technical problem can cancel your flight. Check the day before.
• Keep your seat belt fastened whenever you are seated. The SG945 investigators said the injured passengers had probably not fastened their belts, and that the accident would have been survivable for all if they had.
• Pay by card. If the airline cancels or fails, a card payment gives you a better chance of a refund.

How we scored it

Serious incidents (40) and the fleet (52) pull the score down: the regulator's findings, a capacity cap and an old, shrinking fleet. The accident record (74) stays in the middle because no crash has killed anyone, though three aircraft have been lost. Compare Air India Express, which has a worse accident record but a younger fleet.