According to a senior DGCA official, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be conducting an audit of Go First’s facilities in Mumbai and Delhi from 4th to 6th July focusing on safety. Following the audit, the regulator will take a call on whether to permit the cash-strapped airline to resume operations and sell tickets.
On 30th June, DGCA stated, “After a preliminary review of the resumption plan submitted by the Resolution Professional (RP) for Go First on June 28, 2023, DGCA has planned to conduct a special audit of the Go First facilities at Mumbai and Delhi.”
The airline’s resolution professional, Shailendra Ajmera and Chief Executive Officer Kaushik Khona on 28th June, gave a detailed presentation to the DGCA on the airline’s revival plan.
DGCA also stated that the audit will also be focusing on continued compliance with the requirements to hold an Air Operator Certificate, as well as on physical verification of the arrangements made for the resumption of flight operations.
The DGCA said, “The special audit to be conducted from July 4-6 shall be focused on the safety-related aspects and continued compliance of the requirements to hold an Air Operator Certificate, as well as on physical verification of the arrangements made for the resumption of flight operations.”
Go First plans to resume operations with 26 aircraft — 22 to be used and four to be kept on standby — at 22 airports and 78 routes with nearly 160 daily flights. The airline on 30th June formally submitted its revival plans to the DGCA after securing the committee of creditors’ nod for interim funding for Rs 450 crore.
In May, DGCA issued a show cause notice to the airline before directing it to stop the sale of tickets. It later issued another notice to the cash-strapped airline over the sudden cancellation of flights and failure to continue operations. The airline operated at 29 domestic destinations prior to the grounding, which has now been reduced to 23.
According to a DGCA official, “Jaipur, Lucknow, Kannur, Patna, Varanasi and Ranchi are not a part of their revival plan. The funds would be sufficient to run the airline for at least a year and a half.”
The revival of Go First gathered pace after the formation of the airline’s Committee of Creditors (CoC), composed of Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Deutsche Bank, on 10th June.
To oversee the insolvency process, Shailendra Ajmera has been appointed as the resolution professional (RP) by the CoC of Go First . Ajmera has been entrusted with the task of formulating a revival plan, which will be submitted to the DGCA for review.
According to reports, the Wadia Group was looking to raise funds to restart Go First as soon as possible and had approached lenders to borrow up to Rs 225 crore,
Lenders to the cash-strapped airlines have said that they are open to providing new loans in order to revive their operations once a clear resolution plan is in place.
An insolvent company can raise funds to remain operational, as sanctioned by an interim RP. The sanctioned limit of funds can be raised in the future if lenders agree.
On 2nd May, Go First announced about it filing an application for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi. The announcement was made by Kaushik Khona,the airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) shortly after the Wadia Group-owned carrier said it would temporarily suspend flight operations on May 3 and 4 due to a “severe funds crunch”.
