GoAir has said that it is facing troubles because of the delays caused by the late deliver of Airbus A320neos that it has placed order for. The Mumbai based carrier said that it has had to cancel flights because of the late delivery of the aircrafts. However, as per a Livemint report on the matter, the Airbus delivery schedule begs to differ on the narrative. As per the Airbus data, GoAir continued to receive new aircrafts as late as in November 2019, in fact, with a higher monthly pace.
Airbus Delivery Report Yet to be Updated
In October, GoAir included an aircraft in its fleet and then in November again, the airline included two new aircrafts more, thus taking its total fleet size to 40. GoAir said that aircrafts delivery delays were causing operational challenges for the carrier. However, a while later GoAir spokesperson said that operations would return to normal by the weekend.
GoAir Short of Pilots
GoAir had also added that “flight duty time limits," which relates to mandatory rest period for crew, had also affected its operations. Earlier, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had rapped the airline for overworking its crew.
Around to the report, GoAir had cancelled around two dozen flights on Monday, and then on Tuesday, GoAir cancelled 19 more flights. Another person familiar with the matter said that GoAir is short of about 30 pilots from its optimum pilot size. The crew, however, is of the optimum size to cater to the 325 flights that GoAir currently operates. To add to the troubles, the issue of Pratt & Whitney engines also increased the problem for the low-cost carrier.
