Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh on Monday said that Cash-strapped airline Go First is unlikely to get a bailout from the government without any solution to its ongoing engine issues. Talking to news agency ANI, Minister of State for Civil Aviation also said that the government has offered help to US-based Pratt & Whitney.
V K Singh told ANI, "The problem with Go Air is that their flights are run on engines of Pratt & Whitney and they (Pratt & Whitney) are having management issues, after covid, their manufacturing has reduced. So (engine) manufacturing is not happening at the pace that it should have."
He said the government has offered help to Pratt & Whitney.
Meanwhile, a Go First spokesperson has said that the airline stopped ticket booking before the DGCA notice.
"To reduce the inconvenience to the passengers, we had already stopped taking bookings, before the DGCA issued the Notice. GO FIRST is taking all possible measures to reduce passenger inconvenience. As regards the DGCA Notice, the same will be responded to, in due course," the spokesperson said.
The crisis-hit airline last week announced the cancellation of all its flights until May 12, 2023, "due to operational reasons". The airline, which has been flying for more than 17 years, has also suspended the sale of tickets till May 15.
The DGCA has given GoFirst till May 24 to respond after which a decision will be taken by the regulator on Go First's Air Operator Certificate. The DGCA in its notice to GoFirst asked the airline why its AOC should not be revoked over "failure to continue ops in safe, efficient and reliable manner".