People wait in line on a passenger boarding bridge next to a Go First airline, formerly known as GoAir, passenger aircraft parked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India on May 3, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on May 4 reserved its order on crisis-hit airline Go First’s plea seeking voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings.
A two-member bench headed by President Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar concluded the day-long hearing during which the Wadia group-controlled airline sought initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings and an interim moratorium on its financial obligations.
However, aircraft lessors opposed the airline’s request saying that insolvency proceedings cannot be initiated without hearing them.
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing Go First, said the objective of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is to ensure that a company is a going concern and not ground it.
Cash-strapped Go First has cancelled flights till May 9 due to operational reasons. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the airline has suspended the sale of tickets till May 15 and is working to refund or reschedule existing bookings for future dates.
“Total value of refunds not yet arrived at. 77,000 passengers affected due to cancellations in the past 30 days,” Go First CEO Kaushik Khona told The Hindu.
The DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the airline after it suddenly decided to cancel flights for three days starting May 3.
“Go First has intimated that they have suspended sale of their flights till 15 May 2023 and are working to refund or reschedule for future dates, the passengers already booked to fly with them,” the regulator said in a statement.
After examining the reply filed by Go First, the watchdog has issued an order “under the prevailing regulations directing them to process the refunds to passengers as per the timelines specifically stipulated in the relevant regulation”.
The regulator also said it is committed to minimising passenger inconvenience in view of the abrupt decision by Go First to suspend their scheduled operations without any prior intimation.
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