A fortnight into the month, Wadia-owned airline GoFirst has defaulted on salaries to its pilots, said sources. Cabin crew were only paid salaries earlier this week.

One of the two people businessline spoke with said that “the pilots have been overworked, but despite that they have not been paid salaries. In fact, the cabin crew were paid only last week”. Multiple queries sent to the CEO of the company, and the company spokesperson remained unanswered.

This comes even as the industry is opening up, and air traffic is at an all time high. In December, GoFirst carried 9.51 lakh passengers, and its market share was 7.5 per cent.

GoFirst has 61 aircraft in its fleet. According to reports, as of January 15, eight aircraft were still grounded. A GoFirst spokesperson said in a statement: “Pratt & Whitney had provided 17 serviceable engines in December and we were able to make 8 aircraft serviceable. Similarly, we are expecting 20 more serviceable engines to be received by February-March 2023.” 

DGCA penalty

GoFirst has been facing other struggles, too. Earlier last month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on GoFirst for leaving behind 55 passengers at Bengaluru airport.

The low-cost-carrier will raise ₹3,600 crore as per the initial plan; however, its plans have been in a limbo for a year and half. According to protocol, it will have to reapply for approvals from SEBI.

On the other hand, Vistara is likely to hike salaries of its pilots and cabin crew from April 1 by eight per cent and six per cent, respectively, said sources. According to two people in the know, this decision was taken during a meeting on Tuesday. 

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