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António Costa asked the ministers to analyze and (hopefully) approve the TAP restructuring plan, which will have to be delivered in Brussels in the coming days, the Express confirmed. The issue is highly politically sensitive: the Portuguese airline, in addition to a fleet reduction, layoffs and salary cuts, to comply with European competition rules and remain sustainable by European standards, will need even more public funding until 2024.
As reported on Tuesday by the online newspaper Eco, the plan that the company drew up, with the knowledge and participation of the Government, provides for new public financing, “up to a value of around 1,800 million euros”, either through injections of public funds or state guarantees to new loans. This figure, which the Express has verified to be somewhat lower, of 1,600 million, should be added to the 1,200 million aid in 2020. And it points to an amount clearly higher than the 500 million euros already budgeted for 2021., in the OE which was approved by Parliament.
Then, the figures will decrease from year to year, taking into account the expectation of a progressive resumption of post-pandemic activity, data that is supported by the forecasts that, during the next year, the populations of the main western countries will be able to be vaccinated. .
In the latest paper edition, which came out on Friday, Expresso explained that the restructuring plan that the Ministry of Finance will present in Brussels foresees that the airline will keep 88 aircraft in operation, 11 more than it had when Neeleman and Humberto. Pedrosa became a shareholder, but below the 105 with which 2020 began. It is a minimum number to guarantee TAP a dimension that justifies the Cube at the Lisbon airport and which will allow it to continue making transcontinental flights to Brazil and the United States, in fact, those in which the company has a competitive advantage.
TAP’s management has also admitted that to achieve the objectives of a Balance By the end of 2021, 2,000 workers could have to leave the company, in addition to those hired permanently, a figure that was not yet final. The only thing that is fixed is the cut in the wage bill, which will be 25%, equivalent to about 185 million euros. The number of exits will depend on the type of negotiations to be carried out with the workers and the magnitude of the reforms and voluntary exits, according to Expresso. One thing seems certain: existing company agreements are going to be reviewed and some are suspended, which has already created enormous tension with the unions representing company workers.
At the political level, the situation is no less difficult. Last Sunday, the commentator and State Councilor Marques Mendes announced the Government’s intention to take the plan to a vote in the Assembly of the Republic, information that the left-wing parties said they did not know and that the right-wing seats saw as pressure on the government of the PS. get political support for a plan that will be difficult for years to come. The approval, if not guaranteed, will represent the insolvency of the company, warned Marques Mendes.
