US-based engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is all set to oppose Go Airlines (India) Ltd's push to enforce an arbitration ruling against it for the supply of spare engines, Reuters reported using Delaware court filings.
The cash-strapped low-cost airline approached the Delaware court after it won an arbitration order in Singapore against Pratt & Whitney in April.
On May 2, Go First announced to cancel all the flights from May 3 to 5 after it moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) where it filed an application under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
The carrier said that it could no longer continue to meet its financial obligations and blamed engine maker Pratt & Whitney for its troubles and said that their faulty engines had resulted in the grounding of 50 per cent of its fleet consisting of 54 Airbus A320neos.
Go First’s airlines were powered by Pratt and Whitney’s PW-1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines. Go First has been one of the first operators of the GTF PW1100G when the A320neo entered service with the airline in 2016.
Go First said that the US-based engine maker supplied defective engines and even failed to repair those engines over the years when they filed a complaint.
This made the carrier move the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Both the parties (Pratt & Whitney and Go First) entered into an emergency arbitration on March 13 as the carrier was seeking an interim relief requiring the engine maker to provide and repair some of the engines under the contract.
On March 30, the arbitration award was rendered in favour of Go First. The arbitrator said Go First urgently required the engines, and if emergency relief is not provided to the carrier, there is a risk of irreparable harm.
The arbitrator asked Pratt & Whitney to provide at least 10 serviceable spare engines within 28 days and another 10 every month till the end of the year.
But in a week, Go First said that Pratt & Whitney made a claim that it committed to making only three engines to Go First by the end of May 2023, since they didn’t have spare engines.
In reply, Go First again moved the Singapore International Arbitration and asked for immediate relief. The arbitrator maintained its earlier order and asked the engine maker to provide the engines.
But Pratt & Whitney reportedly failed to provide the spare engines and even repair the faulty engines.
Following this, Go First approached the District Court of Delaware in the US seeking relief in the case.
Go First’s claim
Go First has been seeking $1.1 billion in damages from Pratt & Whitney. In an interview last week, Go First CEO Kaushik Khona said the airline will be suing the engine maker in multiple jurisdictions to seek damages.
Khona explained how the airline arrived at the $1.1 billion sum. He said, “We have already crossed 20,000 aircraft on ground (AOG) days in the last three years, losing almost $55,000 each day. This means that my compensation alone, or my loss, which I can claim from Pratt & Whitney alone, will be around $1.1 billion.”
“To ensure this happens, we will tap into many more jurisdictions across the world, some of which are in the US, one in Germany, one in Japan, and maybe one or two more in Europe and Singapore,” he added.
Pratt & Whitney’s defence
In a statement shared with BT earlier, P&W said that it was complying with the March 2023 arbitration ruling related to Go First. Citing the ongoing litigation, the company declined to comment any further on the issue. “P&W is complying with the March 2023 arbitration ruling related to Go First. As this is now a matter of litigation, we will not comment further,” said Pratt & Whitney spokesperson.
Other sources in the P&W told BT that Go First had missed financial payments to the company. “GoFirst – the Wadia Group– has a lengthy history of missing its financial obligations to Pratt,” the source said.
Also read: Tata, IndiGo in talks with lessors, airport operators for Go First’s assets: Report
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