Manuel Bega predicts that TAP and its French general manager, Christine Ourmier-Widner, will not survive “ TAP portal They were dismissed on Monday after the scandal that erupted in December when the press revealed that Alexandra Reis, then Treasury Minister, had left the company’s board of directors with a compensation of 500,000 euros. They will be replaced by Portuguese Luis Rodrigues, who until now had headed the regional company of the Azores archipelago, Sata. .
” turn the page ” And ” Restoring legitimacy »
Before these dismissals, the issue had already caused the resignation of the former Infrastructure Minister and his Foreign Minister, damaging the image of Prime Minister António Costa’s socialist executive.
” It is necessary to restore legitimacy ” And ” turn the page “, announced the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, during a press conference alongside the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, both of whom share supervision of the air carrier. Their decision is the result of an investigation conducted by the General Inspectorate of Finance which concluded that the agreement governing the exit of Alexandra Reis from the TAP Board of Directors in February 2022 was illegal, to TAP to recover part of the compensation of 500 thousand euros that it had received.
The ousted leader stressed his follow-up. Lawyers’ recommendations »
During a parliamentary hearing, Christine Ormier-Widner explained that Alexandra Reis’ departure from the company was a result of “ Differences » Related to the implementation of the rescue plan, specifying the following “ Lawyer recommendations » Regarding the information provided and always informing the state and the shareholder.
She also explained that efforts to restore TAP have begun.” To achieve results The Portuguese Airlines group, whose difficulties increased with the pandemic, was urgently fully renationalized in 2020, in exchange for the implementation of the restructuring plan imposed by Brussels. The 3.2 billion euro rescue plan provided, among other things, for reducing Its workforce, reduced salaries, and even reduced its fleet.
These results It gives us confidence » For the year 2023, but TAP Company, whose government announced its intention to re-privatize it, needs “ stability “. Air France KLM has made no secret of its desire to take a stake, just like Lufthansa.
Christine Ormier-Widner previously worked at Air France where she began her career in 1988 in maintenance, and ran British regional carrier Flybee between 2017 and 2020, having taken over CityJet in 2010 when the Irish company was a subsidiary of the French group. She assumed the position of Director of TAP on June 24, 2021.
