DGCA safety audit of Go First on July 4-6 ahead of flight resumption

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday said it will conduct a special audit of Go First between July 4-6 on safety and preparedness to resume flights.

Go First halted flight operations from May 3 onwards and was admitted under insolvency process on May 10.  

The airline's committee of creditors (CoC) had on June 25 agreed in-principle to support the carrier's request for Rs 400 crore interim funding to restart the operations.

On June 28, the airline's resolution professional (RP) Shailendra Ajmera showed a flight resumption plan to the DGCA. In its resumption plan, the RP said the airline can operate about 160 flights per day using the 26 active aircraft in its fleet.

"After a preliminary review of the resumption plan submitted by the RP for Go First on June 28, the DGCA has planned to conduct a special audit of the Go First facilities at Mumbai and Delhi," the regulator's statement noted.

"The special audit to be conducted from July 4-6, shall be focused on the safety related aspects and continued compliance of the requirements to hold an Air Operator Certificate, as well as on physical verification of the arrangements made for resumption of flight operations," it added.

In April this year, Go First was operating about 195 daily flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. In its insolvency application, Go First squarely blamed engine-maker Pratt & Whitney for its cash crunch, stating that about half of its 54 aircraft are grounded due to delay in supply of engines by the US-based company.