Govt bailout of Go First unlikely unless engine issue resolved: Dy Minister

Deputy Aviation Minister VK Singh said the government has offered help to US-based Pratt & Whitney

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India is unlikely to bail out Go Airlines (India) Ltd unless a solution is found to supplying it with engines, a minister said.

 

The low-cost carrier filed for bankruptcy protection last week, blaming "faulty" Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its 54 Airbus A320neos.

The airline, widely known as Go First, which has been flying for nearly two decades, is the first major Indian airline to collapse since 2019, when Jet Airways went under.

 

India's Deputy Aviation Minister V.K. Singh told news agency ANI that the government has previously held talks with U.S.-based Pratt & Whitney to resolve the issue at the airline, which until recently was India's fourth-largest by passengers flown.

"The problem with Go Air is that their flights are run on engines of Pratt & Whitney which is facing management issues since after COVID-19...So (engine) manufacturing is not happening at the pace that it should," Singh said on Monday.
 

Pratt & Whitney, part of Raytheon Technologies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the minister's remarks outside of business hours. It has previously told an arbitrator that the airline's claim of defective engines causing its demise was "astounding" and without evidence.

"What can be done about a bailout? Where will Pratt & Whitney get (engines)? (A) bailout can only happen when something can be done about this," Singh said in response to a question about the possibility of a government rescue.