Azores government president says he won’t interfere with SATA management

The president of the Azores regional government said Wednesday that the chief executive does not interfere with the decisions of the SATA board of directors, but warned that with the closure of customer service desks he will be careful about the provision of services.

“We will be very vigilant in monitoring the entire situation, confident that SATA knows what it is doing and will not reduce the availability of services to the population, since, as far as I have learned, it also wants to strengthen the response capacity of the ‘call center’,” Azores Chief Executive (PSD/CDS/PPM) José Manuel Bolheiro said in a statement to Lucé.

The SATA Group, which owns SATA Air Açores and Azores Airlines, announced that from August 1 it will focus its customer service in the Azores on airport counters and telephone customer service, closing stores located in city shopping malls.

The measure has been challenged by several parties and local authorities, and on Tuesday PS, the largest opposition party, asked the regional government, the company’s sole shareholder, to instruct SATA’s administration to reverse the decision.

According to Socialist MP Carlos Silva, the concession agreement signed between the regional government and SATA Air Açores for the inter-island concession for 2021-2026 includes the operation of 16 stores, and the company will close stores in urban centers, going from 16 to nine.

Answering a question from Lusa on the sidelines of a training session for mayors of parish councils in Angra do Heroismo on the island of Terceira, José Manuel Bolheiro said that SATA “is a company in the regional public business sector, but has management autonomy” and that the regional government “does not interfere in its decisions.”

“The government does not interfere with the board of directors or the management of SATA, on the contrary, and has entrusted the board of directors with the mission of saving SATA, given the terrible legacy that SATA received from previous governments led by the Socialist Party,” he noted.

According to the head of the Azores executive, “the efficiency of the administration will then be judged by the government”, which will pay close attention to the quality of services provided to the population.

“In fact, I believe that the board of directors’ assessment considered this to be a benefit for SATA’s management. As for the impact this has on the population, the government itself will be attentive and will be able to react later. As for the quality of the service,” he assured.

According to José Manuel Boleiro, “it is important to preserve SATA and, above all, to provide good service to the population.”

“The government, from the point of view of good public service, will also be attentive to the needs that will prove effective and that may also merit government cooperation in addressing any loss of accessibility,” he stressed.

Asked whether the closure of the service counters violated the provisions of the specifications signed between the regional government and SATA, as warned by the PS, the president of the executive branch stated that “the board of directors is responsible for responding to this issue.”