Go First latest airline to shut down in India

Mumbai: The tottering Indian aviation sector hit fresh turbulence when early this month, another flourishing private airline was suddenly grounded owing to various problems, making it the 11th in a decade to fall from the skies. Throwing their hands up, the Go First budget airline's owners - the Wadia Group -- filed voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) sending shockwaves through the entire airline industry. Go First was plagued by a peculiar problem -- the purported failure of the jet engine manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney, USA, to supply engines/spares for its aircraft that grounded nearly 40 percent of the fleet for several months before it was compelled to totally suspend operations from the first week of May 2023. While the DGCA slapped a show-cause notice on the carrier for its abrupt actions that created havoc with thousands of flyers, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia seemed sympathetic to Go First grappling with the engine problems.