SpiceJet confirms of no unusual sick reportings as all pilots turn back to duty

SpiceJet has clarified on circulation of a message that spread the news of pilots going on sick leave to protest against their low salaries. The airline confirmed all pilots are reporting to their duties.

SpiceJet, one of India’s affordable air carriers has today marked its confirmation on zero "unusual sick reporting." Furthermore, the airline confirms that all of its pilots have reported for their respective duties, while a concerted misinformation campaign is being promoted against the company. This clarification came after a message was circulated by select SpiceJet pilots, which read that captains and first officers will go on sick leave today as a part of a protest against low wages. Also, a substantial number of maintenance technicians took sick leave recently to showcase their agitation against low salaries. These technicians belonged to IndiGo and Go First airlines. Nevertheless, flight operations of both airlines remained unaffected.

In a statement, SpiceJet said a concerted misinformation campaign is being run against the airline claiming that some pilots reported sick on Thursday.

"This information is wrong, baseless and is strongly denied. There is no unusual sick reporting today and all pilots have reported for duty. All our flights have departed as per schedule," the statement said.

The airline urged everyone not to be misled by fake news and inadvertently become a party to the misinformation campaign being spread by people with vested interests to damage its reputation and create hindrances to an essential service.

In a statement on 'sick leave protest', the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said on Wednesday, "We are closely monitoring the situation. As of now, operations are normal. Hopefully, it will be resolved shortly."

IndiGo has started taking disciplinary action against the aircraft maintenance technicians who went on mass sick leave in the past six days protesting low pay, sources said.