Go First announces cancellations, angry flyers express their anger
The sudden decision of the bankrupt Go First to cancel its flights for May 3 and 4 on Tuesday caused confusion and anger among several fliers who had booked their flights with the budget airline.
The Mumbai-based airline filed for voluntary insolvency proceedings at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Delhi on Tuesday over a serious cash shortage.
Flyers who booked their flights with the airlines expressed their anger at the decision to temporarily halt operations on May 3 and 4 on social media and expressed their displeasure at canceled flights.
Gurvinder Singh, a passenger from Amritsar, tweeted: “I have my flight to Mumbai, when I arrived at the airport there was no one at the desk… we have asked to change for other flights but the airline has it’s just about a refund.”
Another passenger, Vibhor Sharma, said he had a flight booked for May 4 that was cancelled. He tried several times to the Go First customer service number which was unreachable. Sharma said it was an official visit and therefore he cannot afford such amendments.
Another flyer seeking help from civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said she is a mother of a 3-year-old and stranded in Pune. She had booked a Gofirst flight from Pune to Delhi 3 weeks ago. Now today she has received a simple text message that her flight has been canceled for tomorrow and no flight is available for the 5th.
The company said the airline was forced to ground its 28 aircraft – more than half of its fleet – because Pratt & Whitney (P&W) was unable to supply engines. As a result, there was a financial crisis.
“It’s an unfortunate decision (to file voluntary insolvency proceedings), but it had to be done to protect the company’s interests,” said airline CEO Kaushik Khona.