TAP told Lusa that, to date, it has spent less than in 2018 and 2019 on all-inclusive aircraft rentals, contradicting accusations from the pilots’ union. “Since the beginning of the year and up to the current date, TAP is spending on ACMI [aluguer de aviões com tudo incluído – Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance e Insurance – avião, pessoal, manutenção e seguros] only 45% of what it spent in 2018 and 70% of what it spent in 2019, in the same period,” a TAP source told Lusa.
On Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Pilots Union (SPAC) accused the TAP management of “wasting” summer revenue with “millions of errors” throughout the year, such as outsourcing services. Among the aspects pointed out by the SPAC is the outsourcing of services to several airlines, “some of them based in tax havens”, which, according to the union, “almost tripled” in 2022, after having laid off planes and pilots.
In a message sent today to maintenance workers, to which Lusa, the general director of Maintenance and Engineering, had access [ME] of TAP, Mário Lobato Faria, justified contracting aircraft inspection outside the company with “lack of capacity”, as happened in 2016 and 2017. “This lack of capacity is mainly related to the limitations imposed by the airport, with the internalization of A330 inspections, previously carried out in ME Brazil [divisão entretanto encerrada] and with added limitations in the management of the slots of our hangars”, reads the message,
The limitations are due to the fact that the new Airbus A330 NEO, he says, with the ‘slots’ in the hangar going from three to two “compared to the A330”, in addition to the fact that it is no longer possible to “fix” the passage of the A320 under the wings of the A330″, due to the ‘sharklets’ [componente aerodinâmico na ponta das asas]”.
The person in charge also highlighted the reduction in staff and the measures of the emergency agreements, “which introduced ‘part time’ regimes [tempo parcial] for SITEMA members [Sindicato dos Técnicos de Manutenção de Aeronaves] and that it was possible to finish from August 1, which represented an increase in capacity equivalent to about 67” technicians.
In the note sent to Lusa, TAP considered that “SPAC’s communication strategy has focused on the constant attack on the management” of the company, arguing that “reality is not built through constant attacks and unjustified destructive narratives” .
“The quality and success of the management of any company is measured by the indicators and results obtained by this management”, referring to TAP that will present results on August 23, being them, “and all the indicators that they will show, those that speak on the quality and credibility of TAP’s management”.
On Wednesday, SPAC recalled that in 2018 TAP resorted to outsourcing airlines to carry out its flights, paying around 200 million euros.
“This year’s accounts will reflect the depth of this action, with much more than the 200 million euros paid in 2018,” predicted the union, adding that these are “amounts that the management does not disclose, the guardianship does not control and taxpayers pay.” . Three unions in the aviation sector called on affiliates to participate in an unprecedented “silent march” on Tuesday to “continue to draw everyone’s attention” to the situation that, “unfortunately, is currently being experienced at TAP Air Portugal” , was announced by the SPAC, the National Civil Aviation Flight Personnel Union (SNPVAC) and the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Union (SITEMA).
At the beginning of the month, SPAC gathered more than 400 TAP pilots in a demonstration in Lisbon, next to the company’s headquarters.
Source: Observadora
