DGCA issues notice to Go First, airline apologises to passengers

New Delhi, January 10

A day after a Bengaluru-Delhi flight of Go First took off without 55 passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to the airline for having committed “multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, co-ordination, reconciliation and confirmation”.

The passengers were waiting in a shuttle bus when flight G8-116 from Bengaluru to Delhi took off, according to complaints posted on Twitter by the passengers tagging the airline, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and the Prime Minister’s Office. Aviation regulator DGCA said the mistakes had resulted in a “highly avoidable situation”.

Go First, which is partly owned by Wadia Group, has been given two weeks to respond to the notice.

A report on the incident was sought from the airline on Monday. After going through the reply emailed by Go First on Tuesday, the regulator found that the airline did not comply with multiple clauses pertaining to Civil Aviation Requirements and Air Transport Circular, 2019.

Go First has apologised for the incident and has said the lapse took place “due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8-116 from Bengaluru to Delhi”.

An investigation into the incident has been ordered.