Go First flight operations: Go First RP says revival could be derailed by lessors' demands

Low-cost airline Go First has said its revival plan can be delayed if the court agrees to demands of aircraft lessors, who have been seeking certain records after jet parts went missing.

Earlier, three foreign lessors had moved the plea before a single bench of the Delhi High Court and sought additional directions on the maintenance of their assets, after discovering that their parked aircraft were in poor condition during inspections.

The lessors have challenged been locked in a legal tussle to repossess their aircraft after Go First was granted bankruptcy protection in May. 

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Capital and ACG Aircraft Leasing had asked the Delhi HC to look into the matter by complaining some parts had been allegedly "robbed" or the jets were corroding.

In an interim order passed in July, a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had permitted the lessors to inspect the grounded planes. The order was later upheld by a division bench of the High Court and subsequently by the Supreme Court.

The lessors, which are only allowed an occasional inspection of the grounded leased planes, asked the court to force Go First to supply maintenance and aircraft preservation records for their jets.

Go First has contested lessors' demands in its first response in court in the matter, saying it would be a time-consuming process that would hit its revival, legal filings by its bankruptcy officer, Shailendra Ajmera, showed.

Such requests "have far-reaching implications on the day-to-day affairs of Go Air and will have a direct bearing on the going concern status of Go Air," Ajmera said in court filings, asking for the lessors' pleas to be rejected.

Getting such records is a "time taking exercise and would significantly divert the resources" of Go First, "from resumption of operations ... to provision/inspection of documents/records to the lessors," he added.

The filings were submitted to the court on September 8 and September 17, Reuters reported.

The low-cost airline filed for the initiation of insolvency proceedings in early May this year. The company had been struggling with engine troubles for some time, which had led to the grounding of a large number of its aircraft.  The National Company Law Tribunal had accepted its plea on 10 May leading to the suspension of the airline's board and the imposition of a moratorium.