The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to GoFirst after the airline canceled fresh bookings till May 3-4. In a statement, the DGCA said that no prior intimation was given to DGCA for such cancellation and GoFirst (formerly GoAir) has failed to adhere to the approved schedule which will cause inconvenience to the passengers and thus CAR, the provisions of section 3 will be violated. Series M, Part IV. DGCA has sought response from GoFirst Airlines within the next 24 hours from the issue of the show cause notice.
Go First, a Wadia Group-owned airline had earlier filed for insolvency proceedings with the NCLAT amid severe cash crunch, the airline said in a statement. “It has come to the notice of DGCA that GoFirst has canceled all scheduled flights of 03 May 4 May 2023 respectively. No prior intimation for such cancellation has been given to DGCA which is in compliance with the conditions for approval of the schedule No,” said the DGCA.
“Thus GoFirst has failed to report the cancellation and reasons thereof in writing. GoFirst has failed to adhere to the approved schedule causing inconvenience to passengers thereby violating the provisions of CAR, Section 3, Series M, Part IV. would be a violation.” ,
The budget carrier has temporarily suspended all domestic and international flights and has also filed an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi, the airline’s chief Kaushik Khona said on Tuesday. . Khona said the airline has grounded 25 planes, more than half of its fleet, due to non-supply of engines by Pratt & Whitney (P&W).
Speaking to PTI, he said, “It is an unfortunate decision (filing for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings) but it had to be done to protect the interest of the company.” Khona said flights would remain suspended on May 3 and 4.
“GO FIRST has been forced to take this step due to an ever-increasing number of failed engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney’s International Aero Engines, LLC, which has resulted in GO FIRST grounding 25 aircraft (equivalent to approximately 50% of its Airbus fleet) A320neo aircraft fleet) by May 1, 2023. Pratt & Whitney’s percentage of grounded aircraft due to faulty engines has increased from 7% in December 2019 to 31% in December 2020 to 50% in December 2022,” Go First said.