How SpiceJet turned a profit in Q4
Amid the events at Ahmedabad last week, what went unnoticed was SpiceJet declaring its Q4-FY25 and full-year FY25 results late on Friday evening. The airline reported a profit after tax of ₹ 319 crore in Q4-FY25 and ₹ 48 crore in FY25, driven by a profitable Q4. All airlines benefited from the once-in-a-lifetime Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj, and SpiceJet had a significant portion of its total capacity deployed to Prayagraj from various points in the country.
This comes at a time when the airline completed a QIP of ₹ 3,000 crore. Out of the above QIP proceeds, ₹ 2,699 crore has been utilised for the payment of statutory dues, settlement of liabilities of creditors, ungrounding and maintenance, new fleet induction, employee-related dues, airport dues, general corporate and share issue expenses, and the balance has been temporarily invested. However, even in one of the historic quarters in the history for the industry, the airline's income from operations was less than its expenditure and the profit was powered by other income, which is the restructuring of lease obligations, part of settlement or waivers and will have a resultant gain of ₹ 528 crore. As of that date, the company had negative retained earnings of ₹ 7,764.8 crore, and the current liabilities exceeded current assets by ₹ 3,845 crore as at 31 March 2025. The company has a positive net worth of ₹ 683 crore as at 31 March 2025.
The SpiceJet-Emirates codeshare may not have materialised, but the carriers do interline. For SpiceJet, Dubai is one of the strongest cities in their network, with flights from nine cities. Some of those cities are the ones from which Emirates has no flights, giving a benefit of one-stop connectivity to the world.
In early January this year, the airline said it would operationalise 10 grounded planes by April. However, that has not materialised with the airline citing the delay due to supply chain constraints worldwide. As of the end of December, 28 aircraft were operational with SpiceJet, nine of which were wet-leased. As of the end of March 2025, only 25 aircraft were operational, seven of which were wet-leased. The freighter fleet continues to be grounded.
Last year, SpiceJet settled multiple disputes that had reached the doorstep of the court of law. These included aircraft lessors and engine lessors, amongst others. Part of the settlement was to transfer some planes to its own books. This is now reflected for SpiceJet, with 19 out of 24 Q400 planes being owned by SpiceJet, a critical asset not just in operations but also on the balance sheet.
However, a grounded plane is of no use, either for operations or sale or sale and lease back. How soon SpiceJet can unground the Q400s will answer many questions. The airline could potentially use them to operate routes under UDAN to get confirmed revenue and monopoly flights, possibly lease out planes to other carriers to earn lease revenue, a confirmed stream and source of money or even do a sale and lease back agreement to get a chunk of cash in the deal for 19 planes and then use it to further unground other planes as well as retire debt, making the balance sheet even better.
The airline improved its operational parameters as the last quarter progressed, reducing cancellations and improving on-time performance, but it only maintained market share and did not gain it. As market share is largely a factor of capacity share, Akasa Air has gone ahead, and SpiceJet will likely find it hard to catch up, making it the fifth-largest carrier in India behind IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, and Akasa Air. However, it also remains the last among the major carriers since all others are regional carriers.
SpiceJet continues to be in a 'turnaround in progress' mode for eternity. It has always had the ability to strike back with a surprise when things looked bleak. However, with all the fund infusions done last year, the balance sheet is cleaner than ever before. How can the airline build on from this base?
The airline is expanding again, as it has returned to Kathmandu and is back to operating short-period flights to Fujairah, to cash in on the high traffic period. However, most of its planes are older generation ones, and sooner or later, it has to look at revisiting its order for the MAX 8 or look for other alternatives available in the market, which can be a game-changer.
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On any given day, at least 12-15 twin-engine helicopters undertake between 25-30 sorties to/from Mumbai High. Flown by two pilots (mostly ex-military) who have to match up to high entry barriers of flying experience, twin-engine hours, offshore experience among others, these helicopters form the lifeline for offshore oil and gas workers who have to traverse hundreds of sea miles to keep our kitchen fires burning. Two of these have been fatal, taking a total of 13 lives since May 2025. A timeline of helicopter accidents in Uttarakhand can be accessed here . A Bell 407 (VT-BKA) of Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd operating in the Kedarnath Aryan Helipad Guptkashi sector crashed early morning on Sunday, Jun 15, 2025, near Gaurikund between 0530-0545 IST. The helicopter reportedly took off from Guptkashi at 0510 IST, landed at Kedarnath Ji helipad 0518 IST before departing at 0519 IST for Guptkashi. There were a total of seven onboard, including the pilot. All are feared dead. 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These are high-value offshore contracts with intricate standards and punishing liquidated damage (LD) clauses that companies bid for and win on a competitive basis. Upfront, there are no fare-paying passengers. Should the Captain decide to turn back due to 'weather' or 'technical' ( DNCO or 'duty not carried out' in military parlance), passengers would at best begrudge another night's stay in the company guest house or hotel. They can always take another flight the same day or next — no pressure. Yet there have been serious accidents that were traced back to a flawed model that incentivised 'flying hours' and 'number of landings' over safety in this industry. Also read: Maha Kumbh has given CM Yogi a winning model—religious tourism for eastern UP The Char Dham Sector Now imagine a situation where a bunch of eight or nine start-ups or small-cap companies field 40-50 helicopters for a short-term, lucrative contract in the Himalayas where: The opportunity window is a slender 3-4 months in a year Man and machine are operating at their limits of weight, altitude and temperature (WAT) Ticket prices are capped at unreasonable levels because GoI wants ' Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)' Demand outstrips supply by an order of magnitude The state literally incentivises the feeding frenzy by pegging ticket prices that compete with pony rides Contractual clauses load the dice heavily against 'No Go' or 'Land and Live' Only single-pilot, single-engine helicopter operations are viable in this L1 scenario Terms are dictated by UCADA generalists from the IAS cadre with ZERO expertise in aviation Is it surprising if operators become the beasts of burden in this scenario where there is big money to be made and incentives for shortcuts are far too many? It's all fine till a helicopter crashes and lives are lost. Even then, holding the operator responsible for all losses and the state (contractually) washing its hands off must strike people with a conscience as odd, but here we are. Enabling factors As another helicopter, this time a Bell 407, VT-BKA belonging to Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd, slammed into a hillside in Uttarakhand today Jun 15, 2025 with loss of seven lives (pilot+5 adults+1 infant), a larger question begs answer — who is responsible for safety management in what is veritably the 'cash cow' sector of helicopter industry in India? And, more importantly, what power or agency do those whom the authorities hold 'responsible for safety' wield in implementing course corrections? Some answers can be found in tender documents issued by Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) which runs the heli-tourism wing for and on behalf of the Uttarakhand state government. Fuelled by the Modi government's flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) and 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) schemes, heli-tourism, especially to far-flung shrines in the mountains, has seen an uptick in recent years. On first look, there is nothing wrong with the policy as such. Helicopters, indeed all vertical lift, fills a niche in rugged mountains that nothing else can. The Char Dham circuit is so holy in India that it is considered poor form to even speak of it without the respectful suffix of 'ji' (as in Kedarnath Ji). Helicopters can turn a 5-hour trek or pony ride across rugged mountainous terrain into a 15-minute air shuttle. Who in government can possibly say no to an idea that propels heli-tourism revenue, where all accountability is outsourced to an 'operator' while the state keeps skimming money off the top? Safety culture? What's that? In a country where people die in stampedes and fall off the footboard of moving trains without doors in the 21st Century, who should be the final arbiter for safety? The pilgrim who has been given the opportunity to buy a helicopter ticket cheaper than a pony ride? Or a '2+1 helicopter company' who wants to 'extract maximus' from the milk cow of the industry? Or UCADA, whose website, replete with spelling mistakes and 'no data found', gives a glimpse into how cheap a pilgrim or tourist's life is in India? Look at the odds. And the irony. Listed below are some of the clauses extracted from a recent tender floated by UCADA for the selection of a helicopter shuttle operator from Joshiyara to Gangotri: Operator will have to provide 10 flying hours (on non-chargeable basis) each Yatra season to meet exigencies as determined by UCADA. Each operator will provide the flying hours when directed by UCADA, failure is doing so will attract a penalty of Rs 02 lakh each time. In such a case the balance number of hours will remain unchanged. For utilization of these hours a roaster will be followed. These services will be provided as per the direction of CEO, UCADA. When the helicopter is requisitioned by UCADA and if any operator refuses or shows inability, a penalty of Rs 02.00 lakh will be levied. Withdrawal of any helicopter on the grounds of reduced pilgrim traffic etc. shall be allowed only after the Operator has obtained the specific written approval of the Chief Executive Officer/ Addl. Chief Executive Officer, UCADA failing which a penalty @ Rs 20,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 100,000/- per day) shall be liable to be imposed. The above penalty shall also apply in case the Operator suspends flying beyond 24 hours, on account of some technical snag/ non availability of pilots or any other reason whatsoever. The penalty amount shall be double in the subsequent days of suspended operations i.e. Rs. 40,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 200,000/- for 2nd day), Rs. 80,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 400,000/- for 3rd day) and so on till 07 days after which the contract of the successful operator can be cancelled. The Company shall carry out the flight operations daily, with least inconvenience to the Yatris, subject to fair weather conditions and clearance by the ATC/Competent authority. (to be clear, there is NO ATC or 'competent authority' in Chota Char Dham sector except for pilots). Each pilot operating Shuttles will be permitted a maximum of 50 landings in a day and the bidder will comply with DGCA CAR Section-7 Series-J Part-II without any aberrations. The booking of heli tickets for shuttle services will be 100% online through website authorized by UCADA. 03% (Inclusive of GST) of the tariff of each booked ticket as Yatra Facilitation Charges shall be charged by UCADA from shuttle operator. (This is like booking airline tickets through DGCA!) Booking charges/convenience fees over and above the ticket charges shall be collected from the passenger by the ticket booking agency authorised by UCADA. Dynamic pricing system over and above the L1 rate may be introduced. The SOP for the dynamic pricing system will be as directed by UCADA which will be binding on all the selected bidder. The Operator shall pay royalty inclusive of GST equal to Rs 5,000 per landing at all government owned helipads. The royalty amount has to be deposited on weekly basis. Shuttle royalty shall also increase by 05% with every extension in contract. All other equipment/infrastructure for communication, meteorological facilities, medical facilities, fire-fighting and safe flying operation etc shall be the sole responsibility of the Operator, who shall provide it as per norms prescribed by DGCA/ other agencies. When the helicopter is requisitioned by UCADA and if any operator refuses or shows inability, a penalty of Rs 02.00 lakh will be levied. Withdrawal of any helicopter on the grounds of reduced pilgrim traffic etc. shall be allowed only after the Operator has obtained the specific written approval of the Chief Executive Officer/ Addl. Chief Executive Officer, UCADA failing which a penalty @ Rs 20,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 100,000/- per day) shall be liable to be imposed. The above penalty shall also apply in case the Operator suspends flying beyond 24 hours, on account of some technical snag/ non availability of pilots or any other reason whatsoever. The penalty amount shall be double in the subsequent days of suspended operations i.e. Rs. 40,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 200,000/- for 2nd day), Rs. 80,000/- per scheduled flying hour (subject to a maximum of Rs. 400,000/- for 3rd day) and so on till 07 days after which the contract of the successful operator can be cancelled And here's the clincher! UCADA shall not be liable for what-so-ever consequences arising out of any accident, incident, mishap, or any event relating to the operation of the helicopter services of the Operator, who shall be solely and exclusively liable for any injury, damage or liability of any kind arising directly or indirectly out of its operations. Come one, come all policy The hill state of Uttarakhand is popularly known as 'Dev Bhoomi' — meaning 'Abode of the Gods'. The Char Dham Yatra represents one of the holiest pilgrimages for practising Hindus. As defined by Hindu saint and philosopher Adi Shankara, Char Dham or the Chatur Dhama is a set of four Hindu pilgrimage sites in India, comprising Badrinath (in Uttarakhand), Dwarka (in Gujarat), Puri (in Odisha) and Rameshwaram (in Tamil Nadu). This 'Char Dham ' is often confused with 'Chota Char Dham', which comprises Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. Today, Chota Char Dham has gained ascendancy over Char Dham thanks to the slick marketing of Hindu religious tourism by central and state authorities. With throwaway ticket prices speaking to a 'come one, come all' audience, it is hardly surprising that the IRCTC window for heli-tourism ticketing in this sector closes within minutes of opening — for a season that lasts just 5-6 months, including the Amarnath Yatra! All this in the middle of weather most unsuitable for helicopter flying — the Southwest Monsoon (Jun-Sep). Weather unaccounted? A veteran of this sector shared a video with me that I found tantalisingly dangerous, given the marginal conditions of terrain and topography in this sector. They call it Rambara Express. It shows an ominous cloud filling the Kedar valley so fast, it can prove to be the nemesis for single-pilot VFR operations. This is what the pilot had to say: 'Rambara is a village south of Kedarnath, from where this cloud weather phenomenon builds up. It builds up so fast and moves at an express pace towards the temple. That's why, it's Express.' The earning season is very small, and the stakes are inordinately high. In remote Himalayan helipads, what kind of operations/maintenance support can be expected to hold up against a system that expects operators to fly shuttles dawn to dusk, charging them extortionate rates for every landing while providing absolutely nothing in return except ticket fares that are capped at pony ride fares? Even the Indian military suspends routine flying in the mountains after noon! Shelfware of rules, but the ground reality is different A series of accidents have only added to the regulatory overload while doing precious little to correct what is essentially a flawed economic model that promotes shuttles and landings over safety. For example, the number of helicopters in the Kedar valley at any given time was reduced from four to two and payload restricted from In Ground Effect (IGE) to Out of Ground Effect (OGE), meaning lesser payload (and hence more shuttles to earn 'promised' revenue). In effect, the state government and UCADA has pumped more air into the shrine tourism balloon while watchdog DGCA has covered its tracks with Operations Circulars that are 'unobtanium' in the existing context (OC 02 of 2023). When helicopters operating under little to no oversight under Himalayan conditions meet aspirations of an 'awakened' pilgrim on a holy pilgrimage to 'wash off all sins', expect new sins of omission or commission. Wake-up call Thanks to all the hardsell coupled with the pull of cheap tickets, the hill shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath have been seeing footfalls like never before. Shrine boards and the UCADA have been incentivising this feeding frenzy with no real investments in infrastructure or safety management systems. To make matters worse, operators hire ex-military pilots with hill flying experience and incentivise them with cash bounties that draw them away from well-regulated sectors like offshore. It can only go south from here. The situation is so bad, helicopter operators can learn a thing or two from pony operators who seem to have a higher benchmark for what works in the hills and what doesn't. The flawed financial model at the root of this unholy heli-tourism sector merits greater scrutiny and could well hold the keys to solving the puzzle. Meanwhile, as fare-paying passengers, please do your due diligence and take the safer option till further advice. As it seems, nobody has your back. If the triumvirate of MoCA, UCADA and DGCA has succeeded in one mission, it is to unite the pilgrim with his/her Maker, as two fatal accidents in as many months have shown. It is about time pilgrims take responsibility for their own lives. Signing off with thoughts and prayers for seven onboard the last flight of VT-BKA. 'Baba Kedar ki Jai' Cdr KP Sanjeev Kumar is a former Navy test pilot and alumnus of Air Force Test Pilots School, ASTE. He has flown over 5,000 hours on 24 types of aircraft and helicopters. He calls himself 'full-time aviator, part-time writer' and blogs at Views are personal. This article was first published on the author's blog Kaypius.
