The lessors of 20 aircraft to the Indian airline, Go First, have requested the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister and return the planes. By law, the DGCA must deregister an aircraft in five working days once a lessor sends a request to do so and publish the details on its website. The airline, which is owned by the Wadia Group, has already filed for insolvency with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the lessors’ request is expected to deepen the crisis and potentially push the airline into bankruptcy. Go First has blamed the grounding of its flights on US firm Pratt & Whitney, alleging that it did not keep its word on supplying leased spare engines.
The airline in a statement on Tuesday while announcing the grounding of all flights had said it intends to return to the air soon once their problems are solved, specifically the matter of leased spare engines from US firm Pratt & Whitney. Go First’s situation has worsened with the lessors of 20 aircraft requesting the DGCA to deregister and return the planes. The airline had already filed for insolvency with the NCLT, and the request from the lessors is expected to deepen the crisis. In a statement on Tuesday, the airline had announced the grounding of all flights and had stated its intention to return to the air soon once its problems, specifically the matter of leased spare engines from US firm Pratt & Whitney, are resolved.
