Faults with engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney forced Go Airlines India Ltd., a budget carrier, to keep its brand-new Airbus SE jets on the ground for 17,244 days in the past three years, according to a legal filing in a Delaware court. The carrier, which sought insolvency protection this week, said in a filing dated April 28 that there have been “numerous, persistent, and continuing technical issues with the defective GTF Engines supplied by Pratt.” Pratt has failed to comply with an arbitration order in Singapore that mandated it to supply spare engines and parts to the airline. This has led to “a significant risk that Goes First will go out of business and be forced to declare bankruptcy,” according to the filing.
Go Airlines re-branded itself as Go First ahead of a planned 36 billion rupee ($440 million) initial share sale last year, which didn’t materialize. A local bankruptcy court will hear the carrier’s insolvency petition on Thursday morning in India. Pratt & Whitney, which spent $10 billion to develop a new engine only to meet with delivery delays and multiple issues leading to mid-air shutdowns in the past, has disputed the claims. The unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. said that the Go Air matter is subjudice and that it continues to prioritize delivery schedules for all customers.
While Pratt acknowledged that it is bound to honor the arbitration award in an April 3 communication, it informed Go Air that no spare leased engines are available. According to the court filing, the motors due to be released from repair shops were committed to other customers before the arbitration award was announced.
