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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday approved Go First’s plan to resume flights subject to the outcome of pending court cases and availability of interim funding.
If Go First resumes services, this would be the first time since Modiluft (now SpiceJet) in 2004 that an insolvent airline would be operating commercial flights again.
“The resumption plan (of Go First) dated June 28, 2023 — amended vide communication dated July 15, 2023 — for operating 15 aircraft/114 daily flights, has been reviewed and accepted by DGCA,” the regulator’s statement noted.
Go First had suspended its flights from May 3 after filing an insolvency application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The carrier had squarely blamed engine-maker Pratt & Whitney for its cash crunch, stating that about half of its 54 aircraft are grounded due to delay in supply of engines by the US-based company.
The airline’s application was admitted under insolvency process on May 10. Its committee of creditors (CoC) had on June 25 agreed in-principle to support the carrier’s request for Rs 400 crore interim funding to restart the operations. On June 28, the airline’s resolution professional (RP) Shailendra Ajmera showed a flight resumption plan to the DGCA.
In its resumption plan, the RP said the airline can operate about 160 flights per day using the 26 active aircraft in its fleet. A special audit of Go First facilities was conducted at Mumbai and Delhi between July 4-6.
“The audit focused on the safety related aspects and continued compliance of the requirements by an operator to hold an Air Operator Certificate as well as on the physical verification of the arrangements made for resumption of flight operations,” the DGCA stated.
The regulator said it has ensured that the findings of the special audit have been adequately addressed by Go First. In its audit, the regulator had found an inadequate number of pilots and other staff, following which the plan was amended and approved for 15 aircraft and 114 flights per day.
The DGCA said its approval is subject to the outcome in the ongoing corporate insolvency resolution process at the Delhi NCLT and other writ petitions/applications that have been filed by aircraft lessors and are pending before the Delhi High Court and the Delhi NCLT.
The lessors had in early May filed applications with the DGCA to repossess more than 40 planes that are with Go First. However, in the May 10 order, the NCLT had put a moratorium on their applications. The lessors continue to fight in courts to get their planes back.
“Go First may resume scheduled flight operations on availability of interim funding and approval of flight schedule by DGCA. Further, Go First has been directed to ensure compliance with all the applicable regulatory requirements, ensure continued airworthiness of the aircraft engaged in operations and subjecting every aircraft to a satisfactory handling flight prior to deployment for flight operations,” the DGCA said on Friday.
The regulator asked the RP to submit the proposed flight schedule in proportion with the available resources such as airworthy aircraft, qualified pilots, cabin crew, aircraft maintenance engineers, flight dispatchers, etc.
In April this year, Go First was operating about 195 daily flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Go First’s sudden suspension of flights amid peak travel season in early May led to strong rise in airfares, especially on routes where Go First had a sizable presence. The situation became so sensitive that the Civil Aviation Ministry had to intervene and ask the airlines to keep fares at a moderate level.
In the last eleven years, two major airlines — Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways — have gone insolvent in India.
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