Luis Rodriguez leaves SATA for TAP, troubling parties in the Azores

Most of the eight parties that have a parliamentary seat in the Legislative Assembly of the Azores on Tuesday expressed concern about the departure of SATA chairman Luis Rodriguez to TAP.

Members of PS, PSD, CDS, PPM, BE, CH, IL and PAN met with the Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration Duarte Freitas, as well as the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure (which are overseen by Azores Airlines), at the residence parliament in Horta to present the terms of reference for the privatization of Azores Airlines, but at the end of the meeting, the parties were more concerned about changes in the board of directors of SATA.

“This business has been completely affected from the start by this layoff, as well as to SATA’s biggest competitor and our routes, which TAP would already like to withdraw. This is the biggest problem. the stability that SATA experienced, especially during the sale of the company,” complained Pedro Neves from PAN.

José Pacheco of Chega also believes that the republic’s government acted like a “mercenary” by inviting the president of SATA to lead TAP at a crucial moment for the future of the Azorean airline.

“We are concerned about the events of the last few days and the intervention of the Government of the Republic itself in SATA. Chega is very concerned that we have mercenaries at the head of this process, which is here this Tuesday and elsewhere tomorrow. , especially in a competing company,” he said.

Paulo Estevan of PPM even accuses the government of the Republic of “treason”.

“This is absolute disloyalty. This demonstrates that the PS government is trying to destroy the government of the region. This is a betrayal of the government of António Costa to the interests of the Azores,” he said.

CDS’s Rui Martins says he hopes Luis Rodriguez, the name chosen by the government of the Republic to replace TAP’s chairman of the board, will know how to “dilute the waters” as he takes on new roles.

“He was the person who was involved from the very beginning, and now we hope that there is awareness and ethics, and that there is no cannibalism on the part of TAP regarding what is the added value of this company. I hope that Luis Rodriguez is able to distinguish and distinguish what was his role in SATA and what he will play in TAP,” he said.

Nuno Barata of the Liberal Initiative understands that the most important thing now is to push for privatization.

“At the moment, it is important that the company be sold as soon as possible, at the best possible price, which may even be zero euros. This is the cost that the buyer will incur in debt, the higher it is, the better for the autonomous region of the Azores. The region is not able to support a company that, the more it works, the more debt it accumulates,” he said.

BE’s António Lima fears that this business, involving the privatization of much of Azores Airlines’ equity capital, will be “ruinous” for the region’s coffers.

“We have seen TAP customers pay the company with their own TAP money, and we are concerned that the same could happen with SATA. Azores in the amount of 285 million euros. It looks like a ruinous deal to us,” he warned.

Concerns also shared by PS’s Carlos Silva, who deplores the lack of transparency in the divestment process.

“Saving jobs in this process is not guaranteed. In fact, the document that we had access to stipulates that in two years collective layoffs can be made and that jobs can be paid off, in addition to the fact that there are no guarantees that the non-liberalized routes will be maintained,” he stressed.

João Bruto da Costa, from the PSD bench, has no doubt that the coalition government (PSD, CDS-PP and PPM) will “rescue” SATA and solve the problems that, in his opinion, were created by successive socialist governments.

“More important than people and protagonists is to save the company from what PS excesses were. Maybe that’s why they came looking for the very same administrator to try to save TAP, and this is relevant for us, ”he emphasized. .

At the end of the meeting, members of the government did not want to make statements to journalists, as at the same time a press conference of the executive branch was convened to present the general directions for the Azores Airlines privatization specification. .

In June, the European Commission approved a €453.25 million state aid to Portugal to support the airline’s restructuring in the form of loans and government guarantees, providing for “remedies” such as a reorganization of the structure and a takeover of a majority stake (51%) in the Azores. Airlines.

Azores Airlines flies to and from the archipelago, while SATA Air Açores flies between the islands.