Bankrupt domestic carrier Go First is hoping to return to Indian skies in the next two weeks, after the New Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on May 10 granted bankruptcy protection to the airline.
"The expectations are that none of Go First's aircraft will be taken away by lessors which will let the airline return to the skies in around two weeks at the earliest," a source aware of the ongoing discussions said.
The source added that Go First is hoping the interim resolution professional, Abhilash Lal of Alvarez & Marsal appointed by the NCLT on May 10, will help negotiate a treaty between the lessors and the airline that will help Go First restart operations.
Also Read: P&W says pursuing its own legal recourse against Go First's claims
"The resolution professional will meet Go First's top management and employees in the next couple of days, after which the plan is to approach the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation to restart operations," another official aware of the discussions said.
The second official said the airline aims to restart operations with around 20 aircraft to operate around 1,200 flights a week and slowly scale operations as an insolvency resolution plan is discussed.
The NCLT's decision on May 10 to grant GoFirst bankruptcy protection has helped the budget carrier keep a hold of its aircraft and airport parking slots, and has also restrained lessors and vendors from recovering pending dues.
“This is a historic ruling as an application of insolvency has been admitted so fast. The order prevents a viable airline from becoming an unviable one. The purpose of IBC has always been revival," Go First CEO Kaushik Khona said on May 10.
"This is the best thing that could happen for the airline. The plan of action will now include IRP to discuss on refunds and resumption of flights. Our job was to see that airline does not go down and does not lose its aircraft, now everything is in IRP's hands," Khona said.
Earlier, on April 28, Go First moved an emergency petition before the Delaware Federal Court, calling for a legal order to force P&W to comply with two arbitral awards issued by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
The SIAC ordered P&W on March 30 to provide Go First with at least 10 serviceable engines by April 27 and the remainder by the year-end. After P&W refused to comply, the SIAC issued a second arbitral award on April 15, asking the US company to fulfil its order.
On May 2, the cash strapped Wadia Group-owned airline announced it had filed an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the NCLT, Delhi due to a "severe fund crunch".
Damages sought
The loss-making budget carrier was burning around Rs 200 crore of cash every month since November. No longer able to afford it, it had to resort to filing for insolvency before the NCLT, Khona had said last week.
Khona said that Go First needs at least 20 aircraft to return to service and break even on daily operations.
The airline is seeking $ 1.1 billion in damages from the engine maker, whom it blames for the airline’s collapse.
“We have already crossed 20,000 aircraft on ground (AOG) days in the last three years, losing almost $55,000 each day. This means that my compensation alone, or my loss, which I can claim from Pratt & Whitney alone, will be around $1.1 billion,” Khona had said.
“To ensure this happens, we will tap into many more jurisdictions across the world, some of which are in the US, one in Germany, one in Japan and maybe one or two more in Europe and Singapore,” he added.
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