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Pratt And Whitney Issues Statement, Claims It Will Comply On Go First Arbitration Award

Within hours of mounting pressure from Indian quarters, American engine makers Pratt and Whitney issued a statement.

International Business
 
| Written By
Megha Rawat
Go First airlines

Image: Republic


Within hours of mounting pressure from the Indian quarters, American engine makers Pratt and Whitney issued a statement that they are ready to comply with the Arbitration award issued by a Singapore court which had asked P&W to deliver at least 10 engines to GoFirst by April 27 to help them stay afloat.

"Pratt & Whitney is committed to the success of our airline customers, and we continue to prioritize delivery schedules for all customers. Pratt & Whitney is complying with the March 2023 arbitration ruling related to Go First. As this is now a matter of litigation, we will not… pic.twitter.com/emokTR20ts — ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2023

On Tuesday, Go First said that it has been forced to seek voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings due to serial failure of Pratt & Whitney engines resulting in the grounding of 50 per cent of the fleet, and is no longer in a position to continue to meet its financial obligations.

The latest move by the Wadia group-owned carrier, which has been flying for more than 17 years, came after arbitration proceedings in Singapore and a suit filed in a US court seeking enforcement of the arbitration award last month.

‘Totally Deceived By Pratt And Whitney’ Says GoFirst CEO

In an exclusive interview on Republic TV, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Go First, the airline which has been forced to shut down due to a lack of engine supply by American manufacturers Pratt & Whitney stated, they have been “completely deceived” by the American company.

“Our repeated appeals have not been heard by the company, we have been totally deceived by Pratt & Whitney,” Kaushik Khona, CEO, GoFirst said.

Khona said that the company has been forced to shut down operations because they are now left with only 55 engines and with almost half their aircraft down, it is impossible for them to operate a pan-India service.

“We will fight the battle in the US. We are advised to enforce our rights and we are evaluating every possible option,” he added.

Cash-strapped Go First Cancels Operations For 3 Days, Passengers Fumed Over Its Service

As Cash-strapped Indian airline Go First Airways grounded flights amid bankruptcy, passengers who booked their tickets with the airlines are left in the middle of nowhere. On Tuesday, Go First Airlines announced that its flight operations will remain cancelled from May 3 to May 5 adding that a full refund will be issued to the passengers. 

Miffed by Go First Airways' service, Harender Singh, a passenger who booked his ticket with Go First Airlines, said, "I left at 3 from Meerut to board the flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad, but after reaching here I got to know that my flight has been cancelled, no one is ready to say anything clearly."

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