The airline has grounded over half of its planes owing to “recurrent issues and non-supply of engines from Pratt & Whitney engines which powers its Airbus A320 neo aircraft.”
As per its website, Go First has a total of 61 aircraft – 56 A320neos and five A320ceos. The airline flew 8.95 lakh passengers in March (latest available data).
Aviation regulator DGCA also already taken note of the case and issued a show cause notice to the airline.
What flyers can do
As per latest data, Go First was flying 200 planes daily domestically. Its decision to suspend flights on May 3 and 4 is expected to affect nearly 60,000 flyers, reports said.
The suspension of operation on these two days is set to hand a raw deal to thousands of customers. Those seeking to book fresh tickets with another airline are likely to have to pay through the nose as last-minute flight tickets are always an expensive affair.
According to DGCA rules, when an airline cancels a flight, the flyer has to be given a full refund. In this case, however, even a full refund would be a poor consolation given the exorbitant prices of last-minute bookings.
If you booked your ticket through an agent, you need to contact them immediately for refund and other relevant info. If, on the other hand, you’d booked the ticket directly from the airline, you would need to contact their call centre/s.
It is likely that the Go First will contact the affected customers. But the process could get delayed, industry insiders say.
Meanwhile, Go First is unlikely to be back in full operation mode quickly. Unless it quickly gets a strategic investor onboard as per its original plan, its recurring woes will cause likely the airline’s struggles to continue for some time.
Apart from the financial hit, the flight cancellations could also involve a big reputational cost for the airline.
It is highly likely that flyers will now have second thoughts before buying Go First tickets. To lure customers back, the airline may have to cut fares.
DGCA notice
Following the decision to cancel flights on May 3 and 4, aviation regulator DGCA issued a show cause notice to Go First. The airline was asked to submit the details of the steps taken to mitigate the inconvenience caused to the passengers booked on flights for these two days and submit their plan of action to operate flights as per the approved schedule from 5th May onwards.
Here below is the DGCA notice:
