NEW DELHI: Thanks to its recent Rs 3,000-crore funding, SpiceJet has informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) it plans to have all its grounded planes back in the air within 18-24 months. Ajay Singh’s airline has earmarked Rs 400 crore for spares, maintenance and engineering for this task. And in the interim, it will also wet-lease some planes (hire planes with operating crew) to boost capacity, this is what SpiceJet engineering team informed the DGCA last Friday when the airline was called for their post-funding plans regarding operational fleet size.The move comes at a time when the regulator is finalising the winter schedule of flights that will be effective from this month end. “The airline informed seven grounded aircraft will be flying again by the calendar year-end,” said sources. Before it recently secured funding, more than half of SpiceJet fleet had been grounded. As on June 30, 2024, 36 of SpiceJet’s 64 planes were grounded. And of the 28 airworthy planes, barely a few were flying. After securing the funding recently, SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh had told TOI that the airline aims to have a fleet of 100 aircraft by the end of 2026.