SpiceJet To Get Rs 225 Crore Next Week Under Credit Guarantee Scheme: Report

Budget carrier SpiceJet will receive around Rs 225 crore next week as part of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme, sources in the airline told ANI.

Launched by the central government as a special scheme in wake of Covid-19 in 2020, the programme intended to provide guarantee coverage to banks and NBFCs to enable them to extend emergency credit to various industries to meet their working capital requirements.

SpiceJet will use this money to clear statutory dues and other payments to lessors.

Besides, the sources said the airline's new Chief Financial Officer will join next week.

On August 31, Sanjeev Taneja, the previous CFO resigned from his post.

"The Board (of SpiceJet) has also identified the candidate for appointment as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. The vacancy shall be filled in the month of September 2022 and the necessary disclosure regarding such appointment shall be made upon completion of all formalities," it said in a stock filing on August 31.

Further, the process for raising funds has started in "full earnest", the sources said.

On the matter of delivery of new Max jets, the sources said the deliveries to start "soon".

SpiceJet is planning to take delivery of at least seven Boeing Co. 737 Max jets this year, as per reports.

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.

Coming to earnings, SpiceJet reported a net loss of Rs 789 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year as the company's business was severely impacted due to a record high fuel prices and a depreciating rupee.

During the first quarter of the last financial year, SpiceJet's net loss stood at Rs 729 crore.

Total revenue for the reported quarter was Rs 2,478 crore as against Rs 1,266 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. For the same comparative period, operating expenses were Rs 3,267 crore as against Rs 1,995 crore.

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