No Refunds, Charged Cancellation Fee: GoFirst Customers Bear Brunt Of Crisis

On the morning of May 2, Mumbai-based Rayna Batavia received a call from GoFirst airlines informing her that her evening flight to Mumbai from Goa had been canceled. Were they going to place her on another flight, were they refunding the ticket? The airline did not mention anything particular on the phone call. An email on May 6 from GoFirst informed her that the refund was under process, though they gave no time frame for it.  

Batavia was among the many who were affected by GoFirst canceling all its flights on the day citing operational reasons. 

This wasn't the first time that GoFirst airlines, earlier known as GoAir, had hampered her plans. On April 28, Batavia was scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Goa and catch a train to Gokarna with her friends. But the flight was delayed by almost two hours. They missed the train and waited for almost five hours at the Goa airport before catching the next train to Gokarna.  

Delays and cancellations

The last-minute cancellation on May 2 was a deja vu. It was only later that day that Batavia saw on the news that GoFirst, India's fourth largest carrier, had announced bankruptcy and all its flights till May 5, 2023 had been canceled. "I didn't mind the amount of money lost because the flight tickets were under Rs 2,000," she said while speaking to The Core.  

Batavia's trouble with the airline did not end there. She had booked another GoFirst flight from Chandigarh to Mumbai on May 6. Hoping against hope, she thought no more flights would be cancelled. But then the cash-strapped airlines canceled all flights till May 12, 2023. As of now, all GoFirst flights till May 19 have been grounded as the airlines blamed "faulty" Pratt and Whitney engines for the crisis. 

Burning a hole in the pocket

"I had booked my Chandigarh to Bombay flight for Rs 10,000. I lost that money and then I had to make a last minute booking on another flight. That cost me Rs 15,000," Batavia said.  

Late last week, the Wadia-owned GoFirst said passengers would be given credit notes. Yet, many passengers that The Core spoke to said they had not received any intimation from the airlines.

The Directorate General Of Civil Aviation on May 3 had directed GoFirst to refund passengers, to which the airlines said they were working to issue timely refunds.  

Batavia got another  email only on May 10, saying that she would receive a refund within 2-3 business days. This was over a week after the GoFirst crisis began and hasn't yet received a refund. This is despite its initial statement on May 2 saying all passengers would be provided refunds. 

Cancellation fee from passengers?

For Azra Qaisar, the situation was a bit more complicated. Instead of an intimation on refund, the airline is charging her a fee for canceling the flight, though the cancellation was never initiated from her end. 

Qaisar was scheduled to travel from Srinagar to Delhi on May 7, 2023 via GoFirst airlines, a booking that she had made through Cleartrip. She received a message saying her flight was canceled. She reached out to Cleartrip who contacted the airlines for clarity. 

"I am being charged a cancellation fee because the website shows I canceled the flight,"  Qaisar said. 

What next?

Some passengers have also been given an option to reschedule their flights in the backdrop of National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) protection from bankruptcy to GoFirst. However, people are apprehensive about rescheduling since there is uncertainty over GoFirst's future.  Even the DGCA has asked it to stop further sale of tickets.  

 On Wednesday, NCLT appointed Abhilash Lal as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) and will mediate the negotiation between the beleaguered airlines and lenders as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.  

The NCLT has asked the GoFirst management to deposit Rs 5 crores for immediate expenses and ensure that no layoffs take place. The tribunal's order has been a reprieve for the airline which operates on 27 domestic and seven international routes.  

While the DGCA has issued a show-cause notice to GoFirst, several anguished passengers took to social media seeking clarity on the status of refunds.  

GoFirst, which has been operating for 18 years,  filed for bankruptcy on May 2 over "effectively defective engines" supplied by US-based firm Pratt and Whitney.  Fifty-f four of its AirBus have been grounded due to engine issues, causing the company a loss of Rs 10,800 crore. 

Pratt and Whitney also supplied engines to other Indian airline IndiGo and international airlines such as Lufthansa and Air Hawaii. While IndiGo also had some of its Airbus A380 grounded, GoFirst suffered disproportionately due to its "ultra low-cost" business model. 

The Core reached out to GoFirst officials for comments on refunds and this article will be updated when they respond.