Four days after Go First declared that it would temporarily suspend flight operations, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) urged the airline to refund the ticket price and directly credit it to the agents' bank accounts as passengers are seeking refunds.
TAFI, which has more than 1,400 members, wrote a letter to Go First CEO Kaushik Khona and said that thousands of tickets need to be cancelled due to the suspension of flights.
“Hundreds of travel agents across the country have placed substantial deposits with your airline in a credit shell to be used for immediate and future bookings and which currently remain unutilised," TAFI said in its letter.
While noting that it will not be possible to refund the passengers unless funds are received from the airline, TAFI said that "refunds be effected as a direct credit to the agents' bank accounts, rather than being placed in a credit shell".
On Thursday, aviation regulator DGCA ordered the airline to process the refunds to passengers as per the timelines specifically stipulated in the relevant regulation.
Go First, which is controlled by the Wadia Group, operated around 180 to 185 flights every day and carried out 30,000 passengers daily.
On Friday, Go First said that it has now cancelled all flights till May 12 due to “operational reasons."
“We regret to inform that due to operational reasons, Go First flights scheduled till 12th May 2023 have been cancelled," read the official statement. It further added that a full refund will be issued to the original mode of payment shortly.
Go First airline, which has liabilities worth Rs 11,463 crore, moved the NCLT where it has filed an application under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The airline has blamed engine maker Pratt & Whitney for its fresh troubles and said that their faulty engines have resulted in the grounding of 50 per cent of its fleet.
On Thursday, NCLT reserved its order on Go First's plea for insolvency resolution proceedings.
In its petition filed before NCLT, the budget airline has sought directions to restrain aircraft lessors from taking any recovery action as well as restrain the DGCA and suppliers of essential goods and services from initiating adverse actions.
Initially, the tribunal said that there is no provision for an interim moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
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