Go Air fliers vent on Twitter as another India carrier grounded

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Go Airlines India Ltd’s slide into bankruptcy has left travellers frustrated and confused, with many worried about how expensive re-booking tickets may be against the spiralling cost of air fares.
The airline, majority owned by billionaire Nusli Wadia’s Wadia Group, is the latest to go under in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. It blames its fate on the inability of Pratt & Whitney, a unit of Raytheon Technologies, to service and supply engines on time for the Airbus jets it flies.
The grounding of Go Airlines is making India’s flying public jittery about how their travel plans may be impacted, especially when daily domestic air passengers in India are nearing records. With a market share of almost 7%, it flies to 34 cities including seven overseas destinations. A local bankruptcy court will hear Go Airlines’ petition in India.
Go First — as the airline was re-branded ahead of planned 36-billion-rupee ($440 million) initial share sale in 2022 — has cancelled flights, according to its website. But tickets for the most lucrative New Delhi-Mumbai route was showing as “sold out” until May 15, a search shows. Options are relatively limited for customers, according to Ajay Awtaney, the founder of frequent flier website LiveFromALounge.com.
People can either rebook on other airlines or pay a fee to cancel their Go First tickets, or they can wait for their flights to be cancelled and get a full refund, he said. “In the short run, I’d expect airfares to go up even further for now given that all airlines are operating at 90% and only the last few seats are available on the plane,” Awtaney said. “It doesn’t look like the airline will be operating anytime shortly.”
We have an international flight to Thailand upcoming on May 18. Will this be cancelled? Shall we rebook with a different airline? Please reply fast as airfares are increasing rapidly.
Go Airlines’ bankruptcy isn’t likely to put any major strain on lenders however, analysts at Jefferies India Pvt Ltd said. “Based on filings, we understand that loans from banks were between around 20 billion rupees ($244 million) to 25 billion rupees, which is just around 2 basis points of sector loans,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. The “majority of liabilities are as lease liabilities. We see low risk for lenders.”
Currently, about half of Go First’s brand-new Airbus fleet is grounded as the planes await engine parts from Pratt & Whitney, which according to Go Airlines has failed to comply with an award issued by an emergency arbitrator. At least two of those planes haven’t flown since 2021, while a further 17 have been out of action this entire year, data provided by Flightradar24.com shows. Pratt & Whitney has failed to provide any further serviceable, spare leased engines at all despite a court order, and stated that there are none available, according to Go First.
That’s meant fund infusion by its owners and support from the government are not enough to “prevent the enormous damage caused by Pratt & Whitney’s defective and failing engines.” the airline said. Pratt has said it is complying with the court order.
“Go First has been faced with critical supply chain issues with regard to their engines,” India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that this operational bottleneck has dealt a blow to the airline’s financial position.”