The Civil Aviation Pilots Union (SPAC) revealed this Friday, 7th, that there is “positive progress” in negotiations with the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, interested in the privatization of Azores Airlines, reiterating “total availability” for a “positive outcome” of the process.
“SPAC confirms the positive progress of negotiations with the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, within the scope of the Azores Airlines acquisition process”, said the union in a statement.
The union reveals that in meetings with the consortium “fundamental principles were identified that will serve as the basis for a final understanding between the parties”.
The “understanding” between the consortium and workers, recalls the union, “was considered essential to close a binding proposal for the purchase of Azores Airlines, to be formalized by November 10th”.
“The negotiating teams of SPAC and the consortium are finalizing the details of the document, which will subsequently be submitted for consideration and voting by the pilots, at a Company Assembly, scheduled for Sunday, November 9th”, they say.
The SPAC also highlights that the recent declassification of the airline’s documents “allowed greater transparency and created more favorable conditions for conducting conversations with the potential buyer”.
The union reiterates its “total availability” to “work constructively” so that the privatization process has a “positive outcome”, warning that “the stability and sustainability of the national commercial aviation sector” is at stake.
“The union has guided its actions by a firm commitment to solving problems and building balanced solutions, which safeguard the interests of the pilots, the company and the Azores. This stance has allowed positions to be brought closer together”, argues Frederico Saraiva de Almeida, vice-president of SPAC, cited in the press release.
The position comes at a time when the privatization of Azores Airlines (a SATA group company that operates from the Azores archipelago abroad) is being negotiated with the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, with the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) admitting the possibility of private negotiation or the closure of the company, if an agreement cannot be reached.
As part of the negotiations, Newtour/MSAviation asked the competition jury to declassify information deemed necessary for negotiations with the unions, with SATA management considering that there was “no inconvenience” in the negotiations between the consortium and workers.
In June 2022, the European Commission approved Portuguese state aid to support the airline’s restructuring of 453.25 million euros in loans and state guarantees, providing for measures such as a reorganization of the structure and the divestment of a controlling stake (51%).