Go First gone: engine troubles, COVID bring down India's third-largest airline

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Go Airlines said it was one of the few profitable airlines in a country that is known for its staunchly price-conscious customers, a market where two big players have collapsed in the last 11 years. The company's ultra-low-cost model and near-total reliance on one aircraft type helped it make money, until engine issues that began about five years ago worsened and it reported heavy losses in the last three fiscal years. The cash-strapped carrier, India's third-biggest and best known as Go First, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, blaming "faulty" Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines for the grounding of about half its fleet. It owes financial creditors 65.21b rupees ($798m), and has now "exhausted all financial resources", according to its filing with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking insolvency proceedings. The move comes as its bigger domestic rival IndiGo is pitting Boeing against Airbus in record jet order talks to meet surging post-COVID demand. Go First's plight is also a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of turning India into a global aviation hub like Dubai or Singapore. IndiGo has also had to ground planes because its P&W engines faced problems, but its bigger fleet with diverse engines, and its deeper pockets, meant it could overcome the troubles better than Go First.<br/>