Bankrupt airline Go First has floated a company with its former employees to liaise with the leasing companies after contempt petitions from aircraft lessors are hurled on it.
The airline, in December, floated SP Mumbai Aviation with Sachin Malik, a former employee at its helm. According to an ET report, in the letters to aircraft lessors, Go First's resolution professional (RP) said that the company's employee has formed the company for the "collation of aircraft records/documents".
"Go First (through the undersigned) can also assist the lessors to engage MROs (maintenance, repair, overhaul firms) through Naik for carrying out the required maintenance of the aircraft as may have been identified through the records," the letter reads.
The airline is also fighting a legal battle with engine maker Pratt & Whitney. Go First accuses it of being the reason for its financial troubles. The airline claims that the faulty engines supplied by the company forced it to ground half its fleet.
DAE (SY22) 13 Ireland Designated Activity Company, a unit of DAE Capital, filed a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court in October, accusing the company’s RP of wilfully refusing to comply with the court's orders. After the high court asked the RP to share important documents—records of removal of spares, storage and airworthiness—within a week, DAE and other lessors said they did not get access to any document.
Before it went to bankruptcy, Go First had defaulted on lease. However, bankruptcy laws in India protect assets from being deregistered if a company is undergoing insolvency proceedings. The Delhi National Company Law Tribunal had on May 10 revealed that the airline is under the corporate insolvency resolution process.
In its insolvency petition, the company said that it has defaulted on Rs 3,802 crore to its lessors and vendors.
Last year, SpiceJet and two foreign entities—Sharjah-based aviation company Sky One, Africa-focused Safrik Investments—indicated their interest in acquiring the airline. However, there is no serious bid submitted by any of them.
