The workers’ committee says the SATA president has resigned due to lack of conditions to continue the project

The Azores Airlines workers’ committee reported this Thursday that the president of SATA resigned because the government of the Azores “did not offer the administration the necessary conditions” to continue the development of the “proposed project”.

In an internal message accessed by Lusa, the Working Committee (CT) said that on Tuesday, after a meeting with the board of directors (CA), Teresa Gonçalves “directly communicated” the decision to leave the presidency. SATA group to prevent “employees from being informed only through the media.”

“However, the President clarified that the decision was due to the fact that the regional government of the Azores did not offer the necessary conditions for the continuation of the development of the project that the CA proposed to implement,” CT clarifies.

In an internal memo, CT said it would request “an urgent meeting with the regional government president,” Social Democrat José Manuel Boleiro.

“We want SATA to have a future and this requires professional managers who support the right direction we are following, with significant positive results, far beyond what is required by the European Union for the restructuring plan,” it said. statement .

At the meeting with CT, which also announced the departure of the chief financial officer (CFO) at the end of this month, management briefed workers “on the financial position of the company.”

On Tuesday, the regional government announced that SATA group president Teresa Gonçalves had resigned from her position for “personal reasons.”

The Azores government president told reporters that Teresa Gonçalves resigned for “personal and contextual reasons” and assured that no procedures would be suspended due to changes in the administration.

The resignation of Teresa Gonçalves came four days after the announcement of the final decision of the jury on the public tender for the privatization of Azores Airlines (the airline in charge of connections between the Azores Islands and abroad).

The jury, led by economist Augusto Matheus, upheld the decision to accept only one competitor in the final report, but acknowledged doubts about the ability of the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium to ensure the viability of the company.

Teresa Gonçalves took over as President of SATA (the group that includes SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines) in April 2023, following the departure of Luis Rodriguez to head TAP.

In June 2022, the European Commission approved Portuguese state aid to support the airline’s restructuring in the amount of €453.25 million in loans and government guarantees, including measures such as a restructuring of the structure and the sale of a majority stake (51%).