Lenders of the grounded airlines Go First on Friday discussed the revival plans for the cash-strapped carrier and appointed Shailendra Ajmera of consultancy EY as the new resolution professional, Business Standard reported.
The tribunal had earlier appointed Abhilash Lal of Alvarez & Marsal as interim resolution professional after its insolvency application was admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on May 10.
According to the report, lenders took this decision since Lal had been selected by the Go First management. The lenders also selected a resolution process advisor and legal counsel for the committee with all these resolutions getting approved with a hundred per cent vote, as per the report.
The report quotes a senior executive of a lender as saying, “The resolution professional’s appointment will first have to be confirmed by the NCLT. Applications for funds too will be made by him. Banks will take decisions based on merit, subject to their boards’ approval. However, banks in general are keen to see the airline restart operations. We will be able to recover only if the airline continues as a going concern.”
The airline had earlier sought Rs 200 crore to resume its operations.
“The banks have discussed the airline’s financing requirements internally. Their executives have met officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the civil aviation ministry to understand if it has regulatory support. We think the banks have got the comfort. Go First is confident of receiving support and funds from banks and would like to resume flights as soon as possible,” an airline source told Business Standard.
In its revival plan submitted to DGCA, Go First proposed starting operations with 26 planes and 152 daily flights. The airline, which has been grounded since May 3, wanted to recommence operations with 22 out of its 26-flight fleet engaged in active operations and 4 to be kept as spares.
The resumption plan, however, faces a challenge from lessors, who have approached courts, seeking deregistration of aircraft or a restraint on the use of planes by Go First.