The President of the Civil Aviation Pilots' Union (SPAC) accuses the management of the state airline TAP of jeopardising the airline through years of mismanagement.
The pilots union has called a ten-day strike from May 1, and as the arguments spill over into the public domain, has accused TAP bosses of ‘ruinous management.’
Union chief Manuel dos Santos Cardoso said today that the union may appeal to the courts against the airline's poor management;
"What has seriously damaged TAP is the ruinous management of this administration, with the tacit approval of successive governments. Losses of over €800 million in the last decade should have caused some shareholder reaction."
The union says the share hand-out of 20% of TAP’s equity was agreed last December, that the management has gone back on its word and the strike "will be called off when the Government and TAP decide to honour their commitments to the pilots."
In a surprising move from Brazil, which has home-grown companies still in the TAP bidding programme, the vice-president Michel Temer has hinted at state support and is encouraging the companies to participate in the privatisation of TAP to ‘increase tourism.’
Temer said he has spoken to Gol, Avianca and TAM, but insists this is a private matter for the bidders but if the Brazilian companies can participate in TAP, they will “feel at home.”
As part of the airline's privatisation process, interested parties have until May 15th to deliver their final proposals.
