The former executive president of TAP argues that any court decision in the case against the airline will not compensate for the damage caused by the dismissal, which she considers sudden and unjustified, despite the “certainty of justice” exercise.
“I hope that the whole truth is revealed. Unfortunately, any decision that can be made will not be able to fully repair the enormous reputational and personal damage that I have suffered and continue to suffer. No one should go through what I went through, either personally or professionally,” he says, “Christine Urmier-Widener.
In a statement sent to Lusa, a day after it became aware of the start of a lawsuit in the courts in which it is demanding 5.9 million euros, the former TAP CEO recalls that it was the government that “invited an international manager with a career boost.”
“It was not me who sought the position of CEO of TAP. The government invited me. It invited an international manager with a rising career, guaranteed a bonus payment, which was decisive for my acceptance and decision to change the company. My whole family went to Portugal, signed a contract for 5 years, which was abruptly and unjustifiably terminated,” he says.
Christina Urmier-Widener confirms that she has acted “always with full transparency” and “in good faith” towards the airline’s management, and recalls financial results “never before obtained”.
“I believe in justice, whether in Portugal or abroad. I have remained silent out of respect for TAP and its workers, so once again I regret the government’s public reaction to this process,” he says.
Asked this Thursday after a Council of Ministers meeting on the anti-TAP process, Presidential Administration Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva said the government was “very pleased” with Christina Urmier-Widener’s dismissal, defending that the report’s support for the decision was unequivocal.
“The government made its decision on the basis of the report, which is absolutely unambiguous, and therefore we are very pleased with the decision,” he stressed.
The minister stressed that the executive power “at that time made a decision on the basis of the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF)”, which he considered “sufficiently substantiated”.
“As for the issue of decisions taken outside the framework that should have been taken, he, of course, retains his decision. As for the rest, we all have the right to defend ourselves and make decisions on all the processes that we want to solve,” he said. He. .
In the meantime, major unions have already reacted to the lawsuit filed against the airline: the president of the National Union of Civil Aviation Pilots (SNPVAC), Ricardo Penarroyas, said he was not surprised by the lawsuit coming to court. or the required €5.9 million.
“As a union director and TAP group worker, I am concerned that the decision [de exonerar a gestora] that it was the right move and that it was not another act of leadership, another act of impulsiveness that only hurts the company,” a union leader representing the carrier’s flight attendants told Luce.
President of the Union of Civil Aviation Pilots (SPAC) Thiago Faria Lopez considered 5.9 million euros an “incredible request” by Christina Urmier-Widener: “Of course, the way [de a demitir] it was wrong, but engineer Christina’s track record in running TAP was downright disastrous and damaging.”
The government announced the dismissal of Christina Urmier-Widener and chairman of the board of directors Manuel Bej on 6 March after the results of an audit by the General Inspectorate for Finance (IGF) were made public, which concluded that the agreement on the departure of former administrator Alexandra Reis was invalid and that more part of the compensation (about half a million euros) will have to be returned.
The controversy began at the end of December 2022, when Correio da Manhã revealed that the then finance minister received compensation of around 500,000 euros for leaving the company’s management two years ahead of schedule.
The case led to a government reshuffle, including the departure of former infrastructure and housing minister Pedro Nuno Santos.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal

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