India's Go Airlines seeks bankruptcy order, cites lessor plane moves (updated)

Jet Airways (India)

08/05/2023 07:21

(Adds Pratt & Whitney comment from legal documents, details)
    By Arpan  Chaturvedi
       NEW DELHI, May 8 (Reuters) - Go Airlines called on
India's company law tribunal to urgently pass an order on
its bankruptcy plea on Monday, citing efforts by lessors to
repossess planes during ongoing legal proceedings.
    The request comes less than a week after the cash-strapped
Indian airline, widely known as Go First, filed for bankruptcy,
blaming "faulty" Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of
about half its Airbus  AIR.PA  A320neo fleet.
    Lawyers representing Go First told the tribunal to urgently
pass an order on its plea, saying lessors are trying to
repossess the planes, which could further impair its operations.
    Pratt & Whitney, part of Raytheon Technologies  RTX.N  and
the exclusive supplier of engines to Go First, has previously
told an arbitrator that the airline's claim of defective engines
causing its demise was "astounding" and without evidence. 
    Go First failed because of "its own poor management and
events like Covid", Pratt said, according to legal documents.
    While the National Company Law Tribunal heard Go First's
bankruptcy plea last week, it has reserved its order. 
    This has given lessors a window to secure their assets.
Leasing companies including GY Aviation Lease, SMBC Aviation
Capital and Pembroke Aircraft Leasing submitted requests to
India's aviation regulator to take back at least 20 planes.
    The fall of Go First marks the first major airline collapse
in India since Jet Airways filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
    Go First's total debt to financial creditors was 65.21
billion rupees ($798 million) as of April 28, it had earlier
said in a bankruptcy filing with the tribunal.
($1 = 81.7570 Indian rupees)  

 (Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi in New Delhi; Writing by Rama
Venkat and Dhanya Skariachan in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann
Thoppil and Alexander Smith)
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