CEO says TAP should take advantage of upsurge in demand

The CEO of TAP, Christine Ourmières-Widener, has stressed the importance of this summer’s operation in the “good performance” of the company, warning workers that not taking “full advantage” of the opportunity arising from the “exceptional wave of demand” may bring regrets.

In a communication entitled “Operation Summer”, sent to employees on Monday, to which Lusa had access, the chief executive of TAP began by stressing that although the “winds” are still “unstable”, “there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel” for a recovery in the aviation and tourism sector at a faster rate than expected.

However, says Christine Ourmières-Widener, “in the immediate future, this summer’s operation is crucial to boost TAP’s good performance and to guarantee the results agreed with the European institutions, emphasising that only those airlines that are “agile and capable of responding to this exceptional wave of pent-up demand, rather than being crushed by it, will be able to prosper, or even survive”.

Such a response “will require an effort from all of us” and “we may regret it if we do not make the most of the opportunity before us,” says the TAP CEO.

Recalling that due to the emergency agreements signed with the workers and the Restructuring Plan approved in Brussels, “TAP has remained solvent and can continue its operation”, the CEO classifies the daily effort of all those on the front line as “remarkable”, but mentions that flight cancellations and the damage they cause, “make the change of course much more difficult and prolonged”.

“The planned and desired full salary recovery is one of the main priorities of this Executive Committee and is part of our mission to recover our company,” reads the same communication to workers, with Christine Ourmières-Widener reinforcing that this will only be feasible if TAP is able to meet the financial objectives it committed to with Brussels.

“If the company is not able to meet its financial objectives, the European Commission will review its approval and this objective will be at risk. But if they are exceeded, then we can review and perhaps bring forward the timetables of the Restructuring Plan,” the CEO further states.

In this context “there is a win-win potential if we are able to capitalise on the opportunities that present themselves as early as 2022”, stresses Christine Ourmières-Widener, inviting all those on the front line of the operation to send in comments and suggestions on key issues such as “what is holding Team TAP back”, what more can be done and where are the opportunities that may be missing.

The feed-back from workers, says the CEO, can be done confidentially, to her email, with the promise that she will “personally analyse all suggestions”.