The low-cost carrier received an influx of fresh capital from the Wadia family to meet expenses, albeit the bitter aftertaste of Jehangir Wadia’s controversial exit is still palpable.
With free cash reserves of over ₹9,000 crore, the airline has decided to pay heed to the government’s wish of not reducing pay for employees during the lockdown; it had announced pay cuts earlier.
Apart from the billions of dollars needed to resurrect the beleaguered airline, its re-entry into the low-cost carrier-dominated Indian aviation market is viewed with scepticism.
At the launch of its international operations, GoAir CEO Cornelis Vrieswijk says in light of rising crude prices and currency depreciation, only airlines that can control costs will survive.
In 2014, the last time fuel prices were this high, a large airline was brought to the brink of a shutdown. Airlines are bleeding cash once again and the focus is sharply back on cutting costs.
