NEW DELHI: The crisis at cash-strapped GoFirst has worsened with the Wadia Group airline reportedly not taking bookings for May 3 and 4 flights due to jet fuel dues. It is not yet clear if all flights have been suspended for these two days or if a few will operate.
Comments have been sought from the airline, which has regularly been delaying salary payments for the past few months, and are awaited. Since the airline is on cash and carries with oil marketing companies, the inability to pay means not getting fuel for its flights.
The GoFirst website, for instance, does not show any flight on the busy Delhi-Mumbai route for May 3 and shows all Mumbai-Delhi flights as “sold out” for May 4.
The airline is reportedly not taking any bookings for Wednesday and Thursday. Some travel portals are not giving GoFirst option for these two days.
Asked if the airline has informed it about suspending operations for a couple of days, a senior DGCA official said: “According to the airline, their flights are operating today (May 2). However, certain flights are clubbed or cancelled.”
GoFirst troubles have been mounting since last summer as almost half its fleet of 61 Airbus A320 family planes is grounded mainly due to want of engines and/or spares from Pratt & Whitney and some due to non-payment of lease rentals. The airline is learnt to have filed an emergency petition in Delaware court against PW in which it has said there is a “significant risk that GoFirst will go out of business and be forced to declare bankruptcy” if not given engines soon.
Having so many aircraft on ground has badly hit the airline’s cash flow. Its domestic market share has fallen from 11.1% in May 2022 (when it was second to IndiGo’s 55.6%) to 6.9% this March.
Oil marketing companies (OMC) have put the airline on cash and carry for some months now. However, May 3 and 4 flights suspensions is not due to GoFirst’s fuel supply being cut off. “We have not disconnected their supply. This may be due to some internal reasons of the airline,” said an official of a leading OMC.
Comments have been sought from the airline, which has regularly been delaying salary payments for the past few months, and are awaited. Since the airline is on cash and carries with oil marketing companies, the inability to pay means not getting fuel for its flights.
The GoFirst website, for instance, does not show any flight on the busy Delhi-Mumbai route for May 3 and shows all Mumbai-Delhi flights as “sold out” for May 4.
The airline is reportedly not taking any bookings for Wednesday and Thursday. Some travel portals are not giving GoFirst option for these two days.
Asked if the airline has informed it about suspending operations for a couple of days, a senior DGCA official said: “According to the airline, their flights are operating today (May 2). However, certain flights are clubbed or cancelled.”
GoFirst troubles have been mounting since last summer as almost half its fleet of 61 Airbus A320 family planes is grounded mainly due to want of engines and/or spares from Pratt & Whitney and some due to non-payment of lease rentals. The airline is learnt to have filed an emergency petition in Delaware court against PW in which it has said there is a “significant risk that GoFirst will go out of business and be forced to declare bankruptcy” if not given engines soon.
Having so many aircraft on ground has badly hit the airline’s cash flow. Its domestic market share has fallen from 11.1% in May 2022 (when it was second to IndiGo’s 55.6%) to 6.9% this March.
Oil marketing companies (OMC) have put the airline on cash and carry for some months now. However, May 3 and 4 flights suspensions is not due to GoFirst’s fuel supply being cut off. “We have not disconnected their supply. This may be due to some internal reasons of the airline,” said an official of a leading OMC.