Airlines ground their planes for several reasons. But a passenger tweet about the not-so-ideal condition of the cabin forcing a carrier to make immediate fixes doesn’t happen often. But that’s precisely what happened with India’s low-cost carrier SpiceJet. The incident also highlighted India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) prompt response in handling the matter.

Tweet grounds plane

We’ve often heard of tricky weather forcing planes on the ground; sometimes, a crew shortage can delay flights, while other times, it can be a faulty engine or some other technical problem. But an airline required to pull an aircraft out of service because a passenger posted a social media message isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

On April 19th, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 airplane was on its way from the South Indian city of Bengaluru to Guwahati in the North East. The flight itself was uneventful and reached its destination safely. However, one of the passengers couldn’t help but notice the scruffy cabin interiors and questionable conditions of some panels that appeared broken or missing.

Not entirely satisfied by the condition of the plane, the passenger decided to post pictures of the cabin and tweet them, tagging the DGCA.

SpiceJet Boeing 737
Photo: Getty Images

Swift action

The 737 reached Bengaluru again on a return flight and was met with DGCA officials who came for a surprise inspection. After checking the aircraft, the regulatory officials directed SpiceJet to ground the plane and carry out the necessary repairs.

Follow Simple Flying for all the latest aviation news.

A SpiceJet official confirmed the development to ANI and commented,

“Aircraft interior cabin work was carried out on a SpiceJet Boeing 737 aircraft after it landed in Bengaluru at around 3:40 pm on April 19 on the direction of the DGCA. The aircraft resumed flying from the morning of April 20 after DGCA approval.”

Passengers taking to Twitter to highlight problems with a carrier or a particular flight isn’t new. Airlines, too, are pretty swift in dealing with such situations, particularly if they're posted on social media. However, an aircraft being asked to be removed from active duty following a passenger’s message is uncommon.

SpiceJet MAX
SpiceJet has stated that it will be retiring older aircraft in exchange for newer 737 MAX Aircraft. Photo: Boeing

Recovery mode

This is an incident that SpiceJet would want to move on from rather quickly and perhaps hope to avoid again. The carrier has received not-so-ideal press coverage lately, from having some of its pilots being asked to stop flying the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to the various court cases in the last few months.

But reports such as SpiceJet announcing ticket discounts for the monsoon season to boost sales and opening a slew of new routes suggest that the airline is trying hard to get back to good health following the pandemic.

What do you make of the incident? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.