21 years of SpiceJet – a testament of resilience or a story of repeated missteps?

In the hyper-competitive skies of Indian aviation filled with tumbling skeletons, surviving for more than two decades is an achievement reserved for a very selective few. SpiceJet will complete 21 years of operations on May 24, 2026. The only private carrier that has lasted longer has been Jet Airways which went down in its 25th year of operations. Air India, though privatised, has had a legacy of both private and government ownership. For an airline which has its roots in Modiluft, part of the very first attempt at liberalisation of aviation in India, the only way the airline can be described is “miraculous”, with a recurring theme of near-death and survival alternating over the last many years.