Two former pilots of SpiceJet Ltd have approached the Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to declare the airline bankrupt due to unpaid dues amounting to ₹3 crore. The petition claims that the low-cost carrier has failed to pay salary arrears, deferred payments, final settlements, allowances, and overtime dues, adding to SpiceJet’s ongoing legal battles in the NCLT, the Delhi High Court, and the Supreme Court regarding other outstanding payments.
The plea, filed by former captains Sameer Breja and Karan Gupta, who began their careers at SpiceJet as first officers in 2011 and were promoted to captains in 2016, states that the airline owes them ₹1.21 crore and ₹1.31 crore, respectively. The dispute dates back to 2020 when SpiceJet implemented temporary salary cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, promising to make deferred payments once operations returned to “normal.” However, the airline later linked these payments to an operational benchmark of 26,000 flight hours per month, a condition the pilots argue was arbitrarily introduced and not disclosed during their hiring.
The plea states, “The operational creditors (pilots) were surprised to see such an email since the corporate debtor had never come up with any such figure to justify normalcy. In fact, during the pre-COVID period or even at the time of appointment, SpiceJet had never disclosed such figures to define normalcy of flight operations.” The introduction of the 26,000 hours per month figure is described as arbitrary and a tactic by the airline to evade its financial obligations.
The petition, filed under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), also alleges that in June 2020, the airline retroactively revised their compensation, further reducing their pay. The pilots contend that they had no choice but to accept these changes during the pandemic. Despite numerous attempts over the years, they claim that SpiceJet has not fully honored even the revised terms and has failed to provide final settlement agreements following their resignations in 2023.
The pilots have requested the appointment of an interim resolution professional, a public announcement inviting claims from other creditors, and a moratorium on SpiceJet’s assets under Section 14 of the IBC. During a brief hearing on February 4, the NCLT noted that it is “neither a labour court nor a writ court” and suggested that the petition might be a pressure tactic to compel payment. The tribunal adjourned the case to March 7 without issuing a notice to SpiceJet.
The pilots stated, “As SpiceJet did not pay the operational debt owed to us, we had no option but to initiate insolvency proceedings before the NCLT.”
