Flight tickets remain costly amidst IndiGo's engine shortage and SpiceJet's trouble with lessors

When you log in to MakeMyTrip or any travel website to book flight tickets, Go First has disappeared and will take time to return, as aircraft lessors oppose its insolvency proceedings and the airline awaits engines from Pratt and Whitney. But a month before the Go First fiasco, India's leading airline IndiGo had cited aircraft shortage as hurdles in its expansion, and has now urged Pratt and Whitney to provide engines to propel its grounded planes back in the airspace.

The impact of Go First's crash landing and turbulence at IndiGo can be seen on ticket rates, as prices for an IndiGo flight from New Delhi to Leh have skyrocketed to almost Rs 40,000.

Pratt and Whitney the usual culprit

• As IndiGo is struggling to capitalise on Go First's absence due to 25 grounded aircraft, SpiceJet's plans to fill the void are hit by lessors seeking deregistration of planes over unpaid dues.

• As SpiceJet sought to lease more aircraft to accommodate flyers left in a lurch by Go First's cancellations, leasing firms Sabarmati, Wilmington and Falgu demanded the deregistration of three planes.

• Recently another SpiceJet lessor Aircastle has also told a tribunal that it isn't satisfied by the settlement being offered by the debt-hit airline.

Can SpiceJet get away again?

• Pleas by lessors have hit SpiceJet months after DGCA had deregistered two of its aircraft, and may have caused the suspension of its Ahmedabad-Goa flights last week.

• Currently, ticket prices for SpiceJet flights from Delhi to Leh have also surged past the Rs 30,000 mark, as it is unclear whether it has adequate aircraft to service rising demand.

Air India has woes of its own

• Although Air India has big plans with more aircraft and merger of Vistara and Air Asia into it, the airline is still plagued by a pilot shortage.

• Even as it has scaled up hiring and witnessed a surge in applications as Go First staff looks for new opportunities, prices for Air India and Vistara are also rising like mercury in summer.

• As for Go First's resolution, the call to get to work quickly by its resolution professional doesn't seem to have worked its magic, since the airline's crew is seeking the government's assistance to skip notice period after quitting.