SpiceJet has placed more than 500 employees on unpaid furlough from April to September 2026, as the cash-strapped airline struggles to remain operational with a fleet reduced to just 13 aircraft.
The airline’s HR department sent letters to affected staff dated March 31, 2026, informing them of the forced leave arrangement. While SpiceJet has stopped short of calling these outright terminations, the practical outcome for hundreds of ground staff, engineers, and cabin crew is six months without pay. Reports indicate that salary delays have already stretched to three months in some cases, with several higher-paid employees yet to receive their January 2026 wages as of early April.
SpiceJet’s financial position has deteriorated sharply despite raising over ₹3,000 crore through a qualified institutional placement in September 2024. Total liabilities are currently estimated at more than ₹4,500 crore, and pending statutory dues, including unpaid GST, provident fund contributions, and tax deducted at source, are believed to exceed ₹100 crore. The airline’s reduced operational scale, now down to 13 planes from a peak fleet of 118 in 2019, has made its current workforce size untenable for management.
Pilots on the Q400 fleet are separately facing a revised work contract, a 21-day-on, nine-day-off schedule that management says improves work-life balance, but which pilots estimate could reduce their monthly earnings by around 20%.
Up to 20% of SpiceJet’s approximately 6,800 employees could eventually be affected if the crisis deepens, according to an airline executive cited by Economic Times. The furloughs mark the first formal workforce action in the current financial year and signal that the airline is running out of options to contain its cost base without structural intervention.
SpiceJet’s board is yet to announce a rescue plan or a new investor. The company’s situation contrasts sharply with IndiGo, which reported strong Q4 numbers and named former IATA chief Willie Walsh as its new CEO this week.
