On May 2, 2023, Go First cancelled flights for three days and declared they had voluntarily filed an insolvency petition with the NCLT, the bankruptcy court in India. On May 10, their petition was accepted, and now the airline has asked people to lodge a claim if Go First owes them money. Go First flights have been cancelled through May 26, 2023. However, a restart of operations is now going to be attempted.

Go First wants to restart flight operations by May 27

Per reports from The Economic Times and first hand from some Go First crew, the airline has started to schedule an online refresher course for its pilots, per an internal memo circulated. The airline may attempt a restart with a fleet of ten aircraft, and take it up to 20, with flights between Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai, amongst other stations.

However, what needs to be seen is where the fleet’s situation stands now. From the perspective of the lessors, they have requested the withdrawal of at least 41 aircraft from the fleet, including some of the grounded ones. However, Go First’s NCLT petition caused a moratorium on these withdrawals, which will now be taken up by the NCLAT (the appealing authority) to clarify which way does it go.

The airline is yet to submit a temporary flight schedule to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). However, resuming international operations is not a focus area till June end.

Bottomline

Go First is preparing for a restart of operations as of May 27, 2023. Whether this goes through or not remains to be seen. The airline will hopefully launch with ten airborne aircraft and focus on a few critical routes while cancelling the others. It remains to be seen if they have the requisite aircraft, given that the lessors have asked Go First to turn their aircraft in.

What do you make of the restart of Go First? 

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