Employees of Go First have been left in a sea of uncertainty since May 2, when the airline suspended operations and filed for insolvency resolution, saying it could no longer meet its financial obligations. The airline said it was suspending flights till May 5. The bankruptcy court takes up the Go First case on May 4.
“We have not been informed by the HR department about the future course of action beyond May 5 till now,” a senior pilot with the airline told Moneycontrol. He added that for now, the employees have been asked to await instructions on rostering and whether they need to be available for work after May 5.
The Wadia Group-owned airline halted operations and applied for insolvency resolution, citing a financial crunch due to the absence of engines that have grounded half of its fleet. The airline also sought interim directions to restrain lessors from taking back aircraft and the regulator from taking adverse action against it.
“We don’t know what will happen after Friday. The internal chatter among pilots is that base salaries will be paid and flying hours will be dramatically reduced if not completely shut down," the pilot said.
Emails sent to Go First remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
Another pilot said if Go First decides to pay only base salaries after May 5 it would become difficult for employees to remain with the airline.
“The lack of clear and direct communication is really disheartening,” the second pilot said, adding that most employees would expect severance packages and help with finding new jobs if the airline shuts down.
No clarity
There were some indications that the airline may not resume operations until May 15. A duty manager in Delhi said until now, employees have been told that operations will be suspended till about May 15. There is no further clarity on when the flight operations will resume.
“For now, we have been told to report for duty from May 5, but informally, the senior management has asked us to wait for further instructions," the duty manager said.
Employees are also worried about their ability to find new jobs and negotiate salaries when other airlines and their employees are also at loggerheads about salaries and new contracts.
"The airline has left us in a really bad spot. It’s like that saying – caught between a rock and a hard place," the first pilot said.
The employees will have to either sign up with other airlines at lower salaries due to the lack of negotiating power or pray for the timely revival of Go First.
The duty manager said that after the disruption caused by salary cuts during Covid-19, there was finally new hope among the employees over the past few months, but now uncertainty looms again.
"We will miss out on opportunities to grow in our careers once again at a time when the industry is finally booming after the pandemic," he said.
Adding to the uncertainty surrounding Go First’s future, parent Go Airlines (India) Ltd. has fallen behind on salary payments for its 5,000 employees for the past few months. A cabin crew member, on condition of anonymity, said most employees are unlikely to wait for the airline to resume operations.
"My mother was a Jet Airways cabin crew member and this feels like déjà vu. I have already started looking for a new job as I have understood from her experience that it's pointless to wait for the airline to look after its employees," she said.
Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer, said on May 2 that he hoped vendors and employees would stand by the company.
“I hope my employees continue to remain with us,” Khona said.
Unsustainable expenditure
Khona, seen as a Wadia loyalist, told Moneycontrol that Go First was burning cash of about Rs 200 crore every month since November and could no longer afford it and had to file for insolvency before the National Company Law Tribunal.
“Filing for insolvency is not to liquidate the company, but rather to preserve the company's remaining assets so that we can restart operations soon,” Khona said. "Go First has been left with no option but to shut down operations at the moment as it has become unsustainable for us to keep paying our vendors and burn cash. The only thing left now is to hope justice prevails and the court system makes the right decision.”
The airline hopes to resume operations as soon as the NCLT admits its application. Khona said Go First needs at least 20 aircraft to return to service and break even on daily operations.
The airline blamed Pratt & Whitney for supplying faulty engines and failing to replace them in a timely manner, resulting in half of its 54 aircraft fleet being grounded.
Go First will be able to return to full-scale operations by September 2023 if Pratt & Whitney provides the airline with the engines, as stipulated in an arbitration order, Khona noted.
"We just require engines. The sooner we have engines, the faster we will return to operations," he said.
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