Top Executives of Air India, Vistara, and SpiceJet Confer with Minister Scindia

On October 17, 2023, the heads of Air India, Vistara, and SpiceJet held a meeting with the Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, in the national capital. During this meeting, the representatives from these airlines, as well as IndiGo, expressed their gratitude to the minister for a recent amendment in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). This amendment specifically exempts aircraft equipment from the moratorium under the IBC.

The meeting was attended by several key figures in the aviation industry, including Campbell Wilson, the Managing Director and CEO of Air India, Vinod Kannan, the CEO of Vistara, Ajay Singh, the Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, and R K Singh, who serves as IndiGo's Principal Advisor. The minister's office shared pictures of this meeting on social media.

The amendment in question was related to Section 14 (3) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, which now excludes aircraft equipment covered under the Cape Town Convention (CTC) from the application of the moratorium. This decision was welcomed by the airline industry and aircraft lessors as it is expected to create a more favorable environment in India. It reduces the risk for aircraft lessors and allows them to repossess their aircraft.

This legal change was prompted by the insolvency proceedings initiated against Go First, an airline whose assets were previously protected under the IBC moratorium. This protection had prevented aircraft lessors from reclaiming their planes.