Go First crisis: Following a request for proposals from accounting firms to serve as the struggling airline’s resolution professional (RP), the big four and Grant Thornton have entered the fray. This week, interviews with professionals supported by KPMG, Deloitte, EY, PwC, and Grant Thornton are anticipated.
An interim resolution professional (IRP) who was suggested by Go First’s management is already in charge of Go First. Abhilash Lal was chosen by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), with the support of Alvarez & Marsal, on May 10 after the company was admitted into insolvency proceedings.
According to the report, the lenders are eager to investigate alternative solutions. After the committee of creditors of an insolvent corporation meets in accordance with the court’s ruling, creditors are entitled to nominate a resolution specialist of their choosing.
Go First voluntarily requested admission under the insolvency proceedings, and was subsequently granted. It attributed its financial predicament to engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. It went to the NCLT in the hopes that things would turn around.
The airline claimed that Pratt & Whitney gave them defective engines, which caused the airline to lose a significant amount of money and resulted in the grounding of half of its fleet. Many of Go First’s lessors rushed to confiscate its planes as soon as it approached the tribunal. Although the NCLT admitted it to the insolvency procedures, it also provided it protection from the lessors’ negative actions.
The lessors had appealed the NCLT verdict to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), but the latter confirmed the bankruptcy court’s decision.
