Lessors Demand Deregistration of Additional Go First Aircraft

Lessors continue to request that India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) deregister more of Go First’s aircraft, as the airline still has not resumed operations.

On May 8, 2023, aircraft lessors requested that the DGCA deregister 12 Airbus A320neo and one A320ceo aircraft, according to the regulator. This is on top of the 20 aircraft that were also requested to be deregistered by lessors on May 5, 2023.

In total, the airline has 54 aircraft, including five A320ceo and 59 A320neo, according to ch-aviation.com data. 52 of those are leased from various lessors, with CDB Aviation having the biggest exposure to the airline, as it leased 11 A320neo aircraft to the Indian low-cost carrier.

Meanwhile, the DGCA also told Go First to stop taking in any future bookings, citing “the sudden cancellation of flights and initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process under IBC,” according to a report by PTI News.

Furthermore, since the Indian authority issued a show cause notice due to its “failure to continue the operation of the service in a safe, efficient and reliable manner”, Go First has 15 days from May 8, 2023, to respond to the DGCA. Following Go First’s response, the Indian authority will debate whether the carrier will continue to have its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), a source told PTI News.

Go First suspended operations and filed for insolvency under Section 10 of India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on May 2, 2023, citing supply issues of the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine, also known as the PW1000G aircraft engine family. All of the airline’s A320neos are powered by the PW1100G, per ch-aviation.com data.

Pratt & Whitney hit back at the airline, saying that the low-cost carrier had a “lengthy history of missing its financial obligations” to the engine maker.