‘No Hope Of Revival': Go First Staff Scramble For Jobs Amid Crisis

Editor's Note: The names and job titles of the employees who spoke to The Core have not been mentioned to protect their identities.

When Go First filed for voluntary insolvency last Tuesday, many of its pilots and crew were caught off-guard, having been left completely in the dark about the development before the news broke in the media. The developments have left staff of the airline scrambling to look for new jobs.

A pilot, who spoke to The Core on condition of anonymity, said that they don't expect the airline to revive and have started applying elsewhere. "We have absolutely no hope of it (Go First) reviving…even if there are rumours and possibilities legally, in the pilot community nobody has any hope just because historically, all the airlines that went down in India or declared bankruptcy at any point, never ever revived," said the employee who has been with the airline for over two years.

Go First last Friday announced that it has cancelled all flights until May 12 due to "operational reasons". Earlier, the airline had announced flight cancellations until May 9 and suspended bookings until May 15. This came even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an order asking the airline to process refunds for all passengers whose flights were cancelled. The regulatory body on May 5 also asked the airline to stop selling tickets with immediate effect until further notice.

Airline Can Revive, Claims CEO

Go First CEO Kaushik Khona, meanwhile, said on Saturday that the company was optimistic about resuming flights within seven days if its aircrafts were not taken back. The airline has enough funds to sustain operations on a cash-and-carry model for about 10 days, he said.

Meanwhile, a pilot The Core spoke to claimed that the airline has asked employees seeking relieving letters for other jobs to serve their notice period at the company.

Road Ahead For Crew

"Getting absorbed by another airline is the immediate course of action for pilots and cabin crew," the Go First pilot said. "...There's a huge queue, there's a surplus in the market now and so you're just trying to be extremely competitive and get into an airline before the other does."

Jumping ship comes with its own risks. Given the situation right now, the pilot said that there was a risk of getting poor offers, as new employers are aware of their desperation. "Irrespective of your experience you may take a downgrade in position…a lot of the perks you tend to lose when you switch jobs, you may or may not take a pay cut," they said, adding that those with less experience suffer worse.

Multiple Go First employees told The Core that new recruits, who had paid a training fee but not yet completed the required hours of flying, would be the worst hit. Similarly, flight attendants with less than one year of experience might find it harder to be absorbed elsewhere immediately. "Aviation seems like a big industry but it's not easy to find a job…that's a myth," Nishu Mann, a veteran flight attendant and trainer, told The Core.

In a situation like this, managing the shock can be difficult too as many employees stick around hoping for the best, said Mann, who had exited Jet Airways a month before the airline went bust in 2019. "This is because Indian airlines really pamper their crew sometimes, and then out of nowhere drop them onto the ground too," she said.

Another employee requesting anonymity echoed this sentiment. "For us, it is not just a job, it is an emotion," they said, adding that many were receiving offers from other airlines but at lower pay.

"Everybody sticks around with a lot of hope for a reason," the pilot said. "Also because there is never any clarity from the company's side - there were rumours of an expansion until the last day at Go First," they said.

However, the pilot added that things at the Wadia-owned airline had been on a downward spiral since the Covid-19 pandemic, with employees having to deal with pay cuts and delayed salaries. "Since Covid…operations had hit rock bottom and it was just a sad state of affairs even though load had picked up, flights had resumed, everybody was available to work. But in terms of salary we always suffered one way or the other," the Go First staffer told The Core. "I saw the writing on the wall very early on," said a former pilot who left the company in mid-2022, after a significant pay cut and being put on close to six months of leave without pay due to there being fewer aircrafts.

Tata-owned Vistara and Air India had announced walk-in interviews for pilots and cabin crew last week after Go First's bankruptcy announcement, and several Go First crew members have queued up. Air India plans to hire over 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots in 2023, after sealing orders for a record 470 jets earlier this year.

Lessors Seek Possession of Aircrafts, NCLT Reserves Orders

Meanwhile, in yet another setback for Go First, lessors on Friday sought to take back possession of at least 20 Airbus SE jets operated by the cash-strapped airline. This came a day after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday reserved its orders on a plea filed by Go First which sought protection under insolvency proceedings.

The beleaguered airline sought protection from lenders who sought to take possession of 26 aircrafts. During the hearing, the lenders challenged the moratorium arguing they wanted possession of their planes and that these proceedings would jeopardise their contractual obligations.

"Planes are the only assets. If these planes are repossessed, nothing will remain in the company," the airline told the principle bench of the NCLT. "Lenders are moving to freeze accounts, and lessors are terminating agreements. There is a huge scope for revival, as our fundamentals are in place," it added.