GoFirst grounded: DGCA deregisters entire fleet

Nine GoFirst aircraft are grounded at the airport. File pic

The termination of the airline GoFirst was signalled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) deregistering its fleet of 54 aircraft following a court order on April 26. Speaking to mid-day, a senior official said, "A total of 54 aircraft of GoAir that is, its full fleet, was grounded, of which 23 were grounded at Delhi airport and nine at Mumbai airport. Similarly, five, three, and two aircraft are grounded at Kannur, Nagpur, and Hyderabad airports respectively, and one aircraft each is grounded at Kochi, Ahmedabad and Goa Mopa Airport."

The official added, "We are currently examining them for providing airworthiness certificates, after which the aircraft will be handed over to their lessors and exported." The Delhi High Court, on April 26, directed that all maintenance tasks concerning the aircraft would be undertaken by the lessors and all their authorised representatives up to and until the time the aircraft is deregistered and exported, in pursuance of Rule 32A of the aircraft rules.

"In its bankruptcy filing, GoFirst had blamed its financial crunch on faulty engines of US-based Pratt & Whitney, an aircraft engine manufacturing company, claiming it was forced to ground 28 of its 56 aircraft. The grounded airline reportedly owes its creditors several hundred crores," said sources from the industry familiar with the matter.

An email query sent to Pratt & Whitney by this reporter requesting an official statement on the matter, citing allegations from the airlines, went unanswered until the time of going to press. GoFirst lessors on October 5 last year had requested the high court for deregistration of the aircraft in light of the October 3 notification by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) that exempted aircraft, engines, and airframes from a moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

54
Total no of aircraft part of the fleet