TAP intends to activate the restructuring plan in October, the airline’s CEO (CEO), Christine Ormeyer-Widner, said in an interview published in the news Inland company, Lusa had access.
The Director explained that she preferred to talk about “transformation” rather than restructuring, and noted the role of the European Commission and the Government in this process.
“First of all, there is this dimension of the European Commission, they know our plan, we talked about it, it is led by the government, because we are talking about state aid,” he explained, ensuring, even so, that the carrier is “definitely” involved in the talks.
He stressed that “in terms of the plan, what we are doing now and what we want in the future I think is clear,” noting that it will “focus on cost restructuring” and adjusting the ability to demand. The CEO also highlighted the importance of the company being closer to customers, as well as the “worker dimension” being developed “now” about which she did not provide further details.
He concluded by saying, “It is a broad and complex plan, and we intend to activate it next October,” noting that it is still necessary to “submit the implementation plan to the Board of Directors in advance, in accordance with the procedures.”
“We are working on getting more specific and more detailed about what we want to do today, in a few months and into the next year,” Kristen Ormeyer-Widner stressed, noting that “it’s always hard to predict what we want to do in four or five years of work plan “.
“But we want to at least begin to reveal as much as possible the priorities for the coming months and for the year ahead,” he stressed.
On June 10, Portugal formally notified the European Commission of the 3,200 million euro aid restructuring, with the aim of financing the group’s restructuring plan through TAP Portugal.
The CEO defended “I think aviation is going through the toughest crisis since its inception,” stressing that “there is nothing to compare.” However, the TAP leader said she was “optimistic”.
He stressed, “I think it will be difficult to overcome this crisis, but at the same time we must believe that we will become stronger after that.”
Christine Ormeyer-Widner believes that “there will be some changes in commercial aviation due to the merger,” noting that “some companies will be larger, like ‘low-cost’ companies, because they have a very strong cash position compared to the airlines. It’s science.”
For the CEO of TAP, another major change in the sector “will be the desire of customers to access more online services”.
“The digital transformation that we anticipate will be stronger and we have to listen to and understand trends so that we are ready to respond when they start showing signs of recovery,” he stressed.
The director also said that “business travel will not rebound at the same level as leisure travel,” noting, however, that “TAP as an airline is a bit better prepared than others, because it has been strong in leisure travel compared to other leading companies.”
