From being an exception to becoming a norm, SpiceJet‘s results are now regularly delayed. The airline will declare its Q1-FY26 results on 5 September 2025. The board meeting will also be taking up the issue of equity shares on a preferential basis to aircraft lessor(s) consequent upon conversion of their existing outstanding dues. Listed companies are expected to declare their quarterly results within 45 days of the end of the quarter and 60 days of the end of the financial year.
The airline closed the quarter with a domestic market share of 2.3% – a low neither seen nor heard before. For comparison, in December 2014, when the airline was grounded for nearly a day, the market share for the month was little over 10% while the quarterly market share was 14.1% in domestic skies. On average, the airline is flying around 8,500 domestic passengers per day and 3,500 international passengers per day.
Ironically, this comes just a few quarters after the airline raised a significant amount of funds, cleared regulatory dues and announced the induction of grounded aircraft, which is now delayed.
Funds raised, market share down
The airline started a fundraising exercise last September, first seeking shareholder approval for a ₹3,000 crore QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement).
Big names like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale, Nomura Singapore and Discovery Global Opportunity (Mauritius) Ltd subscribed to the QIP, which was fully subscribed. Subsequently, the airline announced its net worth had turned positive for the first time in a decade.
Promoters further infused close to ₹300 crore in March this year. The idea was to settle liabilities, pay pending dues to lessors, vendors, and regulatory authorities, and use the rest to unground the fleet. The airline had announced the ungrounding of 10 aircraft by mid-April 2025, something that it has not been able to achieve for multiple reasons, including supply chain constraints.
Operational statistics tell a sob story. In Q1-FY26, the domestic industry grew by 9% in capacity by ASK terms, while the departures and passengers in domestic grew by 4% and 5.5% respectively. SpiceJet shrank by 35% in capacity by ASK, while it carried 41.4% fewer passengers and flew 31.5% fewer departures compared to the same quarter last year.
International performance was similarly weak. While Indian carriers saw an 8.8% increase in international capacity deployment by ASK, SpiceJet shrank by 23.5%. The airline also carried 24.5% fewer passengers, while the passenger count by Indian carriers grew by 11% compared to the same quarter last year.
As of the end of March, the company had negative retained earnings of ₹7,764.8 crore, and current liabilities exceeded current assets by ₹3,845 crore as of 31 March 2025.
What to expect in Q1?
IndiGo announced a profit of ₹2,176 crore for Q1-FY26. This came as a surprise in a quarter marked by the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and the AI171 crash in successive months, washing out what could have been the best-ever summer in Indian skies.
IndiGo’s profits also include an undisclosed sum of compensation, similar to the amount SpiceJet had included when its MAX aircraft were grounded.
While MAX have long been ungrounded, SpiceJet’s MAX aren’t flying. The airline still has seven in its fleet as of the end of Q1-FY26. Additionally, its freighters are also not flying.
Given the constrained revenue environment, the airline, whose total income of ₹2,077 crore in Q1-FY25, is unlikely to reach that figure or cross the ₹2,000 crore mark. This now makes it one-tenth of IndiGo, which started later than SpiceJet and was a tough competitor once upon a time.
What next?
The airline has announced plans to induct 10 planes on damp lease starting October for the peak holiday period of Q3. While such leases are expensive propositions, they help shore up revenue in peak times, and as long as they can cover up the cost of operations, it will help the airline stay away from regulatory dues like Provident Fund or TDS for the pilots operating these planes. This will also help increase revenue and market share, which will be useful in raising funds and show confidence to investors, both existing and new. Lessors who have converted their dues to equity will be wondering what the next steps are for them, since this is a rare phenomenon.
SpiceJet has been around, no matter how strong the headwinds have been. However, it has not shrunk to this level before. With over 90% of the market with IndiGo and the Air India group, the battle for the remainder of the 10% is between Akasa Air, which has been recently funded, SpiceJet and the smaller carriers. Can SpiceJet sustain the onslaught and keep its flock together for long?