Published on: May 5, 2023 @ 00:10
SPT News, Kolkata, May 4: Go First has further extended its flight cancellation period till May 9. They have given a notice about this on their Twitter handle. There they said that due to operational reasons, Flight has been canceled till May 9. For that they have also expressed regret. They even said to refund the full amount of the booking to the passengers. However, the Travel Agents Federation of India or TAFI has given a response on Go First’s current role in this regard.
Both sides should be considered – Anil Punjabi
TAFI’s Chairman (East India) Anil Punjabi told SPT that GoFirst said they would refund the entire ticket booking amount. Very good thing. But what about travel agents, you say? A travel agent can shell out big bucks for any airline carrier. With that look, they book tickets. Now, if the airline company cancels the flight like this, the passengers get the full amount, but the travel agents lose the entire amount. That much money remained in the airline company for so long, that company benefited. If this money was in the bank then unity interest would have been earned. But because the airline canceled their flight, the travel agent actually lost all the money. Now is the time to think about this matter. Both sides have to think about it.
“Severe Funding Crisis”
The Wadia Group-owned carrier first announced the temporary suspension of flight operations on May 3 and 4 due to “severe funding crunch”. It then extended it till May 5. Today they again issued a notice and extended the cancellation period till May 9. The announcement was made by the airline’s CEO Kaushik Khona. Flights will be resumed if the NCLT accepts the plea, Khona said. Explaining why it is facing a funding crunch, Khona told news agency PTI that the airline has grounded 28 aircraft, more than half of its fleet, due to non-delivery of engines by Pratt & Whitney (P&W).
Go First said it had to take this step to protect the interests of all stakeholders. It was forced to take this step despite promoters infusing the airline with substantial funds of Rs 3,200 crore over the past three years as it had to ground nearly 50 per cent of its A320neo fleet due to serial failures. Pratt & Whitney’s Engine, which returned Rs 10,800 crore to Go First in lost revenue and additional costs.
Due to Pratt & Whitney’s defective engine
The loss-making airline said in a statement: “GoFirst has taken this action due to an increasing number of failed engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney’s International Aero Engines, LLC, which has forced GoFirst to ground 25. aircraft by 1 May 2023 (equivalent to approximately 50 percent of its Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet). Pratt & Whitney’s percentage of aircraft grounded due to faulty engines increased from 7 percent in December 2019 to 31 percent in December 2020. This is despite Pratt and Whitney making several ongoing assurances over the years, which it has repeatedly failed to deliver.”
Published on: May 5, 2023 @ 00:10
