Summary
- Go First, formerly generally known as GoAir, plans to resume flying in June after facing financial hardship on account of alleged faulty engines, grounding half of its fleet.
- The airline’s resumption plan has been approved by India’s aviation regulator, however it must secure interim funding and gain approval for its flight schedule before commencing operations.
- Go First, owned by the Wadia Group, was once the fifth-largest airline in India and operated as an ultra-low-cost carrier, serving each domestic and international destinations.
The ultra-low-cost carrier Go First recently submitted its plan to resume flying and resume operations in June earlier this 12 months. On July 21, India’s aviation regulator announced the airline would have the ability to resume operations if it could meet certain conditions. These conditions require interim funding and future approval of its flight schedule.
Go First ceased operations earlier this 12 months
The Mumbai-based airline, which was originally founded as GoAir, ceased operations in May earlier this 12 months. Shortly after, the airline plunged right into a financial crisis but was granted bankruptcy protection.
Go First states that the explanation for this was allegedly faulty Pratt & Whitney engines which can be used on half of its fleet. The Pratt & Whitney engines are used on a few of its Airbus A320neos that the fleet utilizes. This issue ended up grounding half of the airline’s fleet on December 22. Pratt & Whitney has released a press release that it believes these claims should not true. Nonetheless, Go First estimated that the lack of revenue was over $1.32 billion.
Photo: Soos Jozsef | Shutterstock
Shortly after grounding all its flights, the airline attempted to restart its operations. It was set to relaunch flights just over a month after the initial grounding on June 25. This was prolonged shortly after.
When this halt of operations was prolonged, the airline provided a six-month revival plan to the aviation regulator in India. The initial revival plan stated that the airline would restart flights with an approved fleet of 26 aircraft and employ 400 pilots to operate the fleet.
Attempting to restart flying operations
On Friday, the aviation regulator of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), approved the airline’s resumption plan. This approval was subject to several conditions.
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The conditions force the airline to lift interim funding and get approval for its flight schedule. The order that approved the plan stated,
“Scheduled flight operations could be commenced only after the supply of the required interim funding and approval of flight schedule by DGCA.”
The airline can begin to sell tickets once the initial flight schedule is approved. The DGCA also stated,
“Go First has been directed to make sure compliance with all of the applicable regulatory requirements, make sure the continued airworthiness of the aircraft engaged in operations, and subject every aircraft to a satisfactory handling flight prior to deployment for flight operations.”
The airline didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment regarding the DGCA’s plan approval.
Additional Go First information
Go First was originally founded as GoAir and is owned by the conglomerate Wadia Group. In 2017, the airline was the fifth-largest airline in India and operated as an ultra-low-cost airline. Nonetheless, the airline was the third-largest budget airline within the country in 2021. It was only behind IndiGo and SpiceJet. At one point, the airline was operating 54 total Airbus A320 aircraft that were all in an economy seating configuration. Go First flew to just about 40 destinations within the region. This included 27 domestic destinations and nine international destinations from its different hubs in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore.