BE reports Isabelle Nicolaou was hired by TAP without an interview after her predecessor was fired

The report notes that Isabelle Nicolaou, with whom the former TAP executive president had a personal relationship, was hired as director without an interview and after her predecessor’s dismissal, contrary to a company statement released by BE on Wednesday.

“We have received a report of a potential conflict of interest in the recruitment of Isabelle Nicolaou as Director of Performance and Stability. […] The report says that there was no scheduled interview, that there were not even three candidates,” Bloc deputy Mariana Mortagua said at a hearing of the chairman of the TAR remuneration committee, Thiago Aires Matheus, in the TAR commission of inquiry.

According to the deputy, the report, which the commission received, also mentions that the predecessor, Isabelle Nicolau, did not decide to leave the company, according to TAP, but was fired.

In addition, the same paper concludes that Isabelle Nicolaou was earning 30% more than the previous director in the context of the pay cuts for the company’s employees going through the restructuring plan.

Answering the deputy’s question, Thiago Aires Mateus said that he did not know about this situation.

In October 2022, some media reported the hiring of a new airline director with no aviation experience and who would be a friend of the then Executive President (CEO) Christine Urmier-Widener.

On the same day, TAP rejected the executive chairman’s interference in the hiring of a new director despite “recent personal relationships” and stressed that Isabelle Nicolau has “twenty years of proven experience” leading teams in engineering companies.

“In early October, we hired a new real estate process director. [imobiliário] and sustainability, with over twenty years of experience gained by leading technical and commercial teams in engineering companies,” he began by referring to the TAP Executive Committee in a memo sent to workers on the occasion, to which Lusa had access.

“The selection process was conducted solely by the respective department administrator and HR director, with three candidates interviewed for the position, without any input from the current CEO in the decision,” the same note says.

The Executive Committee emphasized that “Even so, since this new director has a recent personal relationship with the current CEO, her hiring is due to this fact, which is rejected.”

In a note sent to employees, the company also clarified that the €15,000 figure relating to the salary of the new director, which was put forward in the news, “is not true, being substantially lower.”