Go First Seeks $1.1 Billion In Damages From Pratt & Whitney Over Airline's Collapse

Go First, Low-cost Indian airline which filed for voluntary insolvency last week, is suing engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney for $ 1.1 billion in damages, claiming that it is to blame for the airline's demise.

Go First's chief executive Kaushik Khona mentioned that the airline will be suing the engine manufacturer in several different jurisdictions to collect damages.

Khona 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.

Khona also mentioned that although the Wadia group, the airline's promoters, have interest from outside sources to raise finance, at this time they are unable to discuss it with the airline's lenders.

The Wadia group is devoted to the airline, the CEO said, to the point where they raised new equity of Rs 290 crore in the final 10 days of April, shortly before the insolvency filing. He claimed that the airline aggressively cancelled flights and that it would soon find a solution to its problems.

Go Airlines (India) Ltd, a low-cost carrier that operates under the moniker Go First, disclosed last week that it is starting voluntary insolvency proceedings with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as a result of financial issues. The airline claimed that Pratt & Whitney engines' defective engines were to blame for the disaster. In response to the accusations, the engine maker claimed that the airline had irregular payment practices.