India's Go Airlines seeks bankruptcy order, cites lessor plane moves

NEW DELHI: Go Airlines called on India's company law tribunal to urgently pass an order on its bankruptcy plea on Monday, citing efforts by lessors to repossess planes during ongoing legal proceedings. The request comes less than a week after the cash-strapped Indian airline, widely known as Go First, filed for bankruptcy, blaming "faulty" Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its Airbus A320neo fleet.

Lawyers representing Go First told the tribunal to urgently pass an order on its plea, saying lessors are trying to repossess the planes, which could further impair its operations. Pratt & Whitney, part of Raytheon Technologies and the exclusive supplier of engines to Go First, has previously told an arbitrator that the airline's claim of defective engines causing its demise was "astounding" and without evidence.

Go First failed because of "its own poor management and events like Covid", Pratt said, according to legal documents. While the National Company Law Tribunal heard Go First's bankruptcy plea last week, it has reserved its order.

This has given lessors a window to secure their assets. Leasing companies including GY Aviation Lease, SMBC Aviation Capital and Pembroke Aircraft Leasing submitted requests to India's aviation regulator to take back at least 20 planes. The fall of Go First marks the first major airline collapse in India since Jet Airways filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

Go First's total debt to financial creditors was 65.21 billion rupees ($798 million) as of April 28, it had earlier said in a bankruptcy filing with the tribunal. ($1 = 81.7570 Indian rupees)