Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Oct. 30, 2025 (Lusa) - The Civil Aviation Pilots Union (SPAC) expressed "concern" on Thursday after the chairman of the Azores Airlines privatisation tender jury announced that he had asked for a legal opinion, claiming it "weakens" the 10 November deadline.
The chairman of the jury, Augusto Mateus, told Antena 1 on Wednesday that he had asked for a legal opinion, which should be known at the beginning of next week, after the Newtour/MSAviation consortium asked the jury to declassify information it considered necessary for negotiations with the unions.
In its reaction, SPAC considers that the option "clashes with the very timetable imposed by the jury, which set 10 November as the deadline for the binding proposal of the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, unjustifiably compressing the useful time for analysis and negotiation with the workers" of the Azorean airline.
In a statement, SPAC emphasised that the jury "has sufficient technical capacity to decide quickly and based on the principle of proportionality on the provision of non-personal and day-to-day management data necessary for negotiations".
The union recalls the composition of the jury, which has as its chairman an economist and former Minister of the Economy (Augusto Mateus), a professor linked to ISEG.
The jury is also made up of a member, a full professor of law (Universidade Católica Portuguesa), specialising in constitutional and administrative law, and a chartered accountant (ROC), it points out.
"In view of this matrix of competences (economics, public law and chartered accountant), SPAC does not understand the need for an external opinion which, only being known next week, further narrows the time frame for a serious negotiation process with the pilots - the same ones the consortium has asked for dialogue with, to make a robust proposal possible," the union said.
SPAC reiterated that it was "not claiming access to sensitive personal information", but only to "aggregated operational and financial details, which are indispensable for evaluating efficiency measures and labour sustainability".
"This data can and should be shared under a duty of trade union confidentiality - common practice in processes of this nature," reads the SPAC statement.
SPAC demands "an immediate decision to declassify" and calls for confidentiality reservations to be limited "to what is strictly necessary", requesting that "operational data indispensable for serious and informed negotiations" be handed over.
The union also called on the regional government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), as a shareholder, to sensitise the board of directors of SATA Holding so that it is an active part of the solution - and not a blocking factor - by removing administrative obstacles that jeopardise the very timetable defined by the jury.
In the statement, the union also said that SATA Holding itself "has publicly stated that it sees no inconvenience" in meetings between the consortium and the workers, considering that "the effective barrier lies in maintaining excessive confidentiality classifications".
The union, which represents Azores Airlines pilots, said that it remains "fully available for responsible, swift and fact-based negotiations" in defence of the "interests of the workers, the company and the Autonomous Region of the Azores".
On Monday, the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium stated in a press release that SATA Holding does not authorise it to discuss the strategic project for the Azorean airline with its workers.
SATA Holding's board of directors said that it "finds no inconvenience" for the Newtour/MS Aviation consortium, which is interested in buying Azores Airlines, to discuss its strategic project for the company with employees.
The SATA group is under a financial recovery plan approved in June 2022 by the European Commission, at the proposal of the member state, which includes direct financial aid from the state in the form of loans and guarantees, with the aim of "improving its operation and financial situation".
The amount involved in the bailout aid is €453.25 million, and the company's recovery package includes the privatisation of Azores Airlines APE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
