National airline TAP shed 1,480 more workers in 2021

  • Lusa
  • 18 May 2022

This reduction marked an acceleration of the departure of workers that had already taken place in 2020, when the carrier lost 900 employees from a workforce of 9,006 at the end of 2019.

TAP, Portugal’s national flag carrier, ended last year with 1,480 fewer workers than at the end of to 2020, for a total of 6,626, according to the carrier’s report and accounts, submitted to the Securities Markets Commission (CMVM).

This reduction marked an acceleration of the departure of workers that had already taken place in 2020, when the carrier lost 900 employees from a workforce of 9,006 at the end of 2019, the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic, figures in the report – submitted late on Tuesday – show.

In total, between December 2019 and the same month in 2021, TAP lost 2,380 workers.

In the document, the carrier recalled that “the drop in activity seen from March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted the company’s performance in the remaining months of the 2020 financial year and during the 2021 financial year” due to the “significant” impact of lockdown measures “adopted by the national and international authorities that were reflected in a sharp drop in demand and led the company to reduce its operational capacity, translating into a deterioration of activity over the years 2020 and 2021.”

Last year, TAP’s personnel expenses were €380.8 million, down from the 2020 figure of €440.6 million.

“The decrease seen in 2021 compared to 2020 under the heading “personnel expenses” essentially stems from the decrease in the number of employees compared to the same period and the wage cuts agreed with employees under the Restructuring Plan,” the company states in the report.

TAP posted a loss of almost €1.6 billion last year, despite an increase in the number of passengers carried and revenues during the year, the company said in April.

Portugal’s minister of infrastructure and housing, Pedro Nuno Santos – whose responsibilities also include transport – said on May 9 that TAP’s restructuring plan envisages a €54-million loss this year, and that it would not report a profit until 2025.