The president of TAP, Fernando Pinto, warned today that the airline's survival is at risk "if the current instability is prolonged," and asked employees "to reflect on how best to contribute to the safeguarding of TAP’s future."
“At this juncture, I feel it my duty to say clearly that the survival of TAP is at risk if the current instability is extended and if the relationship of trust with our market is not normalised. If not, it doesn’t really matter whether TAP is public or private," Fernando Pinto wrote in a letter sent today to the company's workforce.
The TAP union chiefs met the company's management this morning at the request of the TAP president after the government issued a civil requisition order on Thursday.
In his Merry Christmas letter to workers, Fernando Pinto said he did not want anyone to ignore staff opinions and they had every right to strike, but insisted that "TAP needs immediately to regain the reliability and quality image that it has gained over almost 70 years of history."
The president of TAP reminded workers that in this day and age "regardless of who is the owner, an airline survives only with the confidence of its passengers." "This is the time for a calm reflection. I invite each of you to reflect."
TAP today started again to take bookings for the four day strike period between Christmas and New Year but still is shifting bookings to non-strike days for those customers that are able to be flexible with their travel plans.
The rare ‘civil requisition’ legal instrument that was approved on Thursday by the Government means that about 70% of TAP employees will have to be on duty to ensure all flights scheduled for the four days of the strike will go ahead, according to the Economy Minister António Pires de Lima.
An injunction could delay the imposition of the civil requisition order and if staff phone in sick en masse on the strike days the likelihood is that TAP flights will not leave the ground.
The decision to relaunch the privatisation of the airline, suspended since the government bungled the previous process in December 2012, has sparked a new wave of union opposition which culminated with the registration of a four day strike period between 27 and 30 December.
The government has not been swayed from its intention of selling 66% of the airline next year and is soliciting applications and bids from early 2015.
There is one union that wants to be working on the strike days. The National Civil Aviation Flight Personnel Union today welcomed the civil requisition decision from the Council of Ministers and agreed that it was in the national interest to keep the airline flying over the holiday period. The other TAP unions have a rather different opinion.