The CEO of TAP assured today that the company is prepared for the general strike scheduled for Thursday and expects to operate at least a third of its capacity, with the main focus being on avoiding disruption to passengers.
In statements to journalists, Luís Rodrigues explained that they do not have “a final accounting” of the costs that the airline may incur as a result of the strike.
However, he assured that the operational plan defined with the unions is guaranteed and that passengers were contacted beforehand to avoid surprises at the airport.
“We are not worried about that. We are concerned with ensuring that the operation runs as smoothly as possible,” he stated, emphasizing that the main objective is to prevent passengers from arriving at the airport only to discover that their flight has been canceled.
According to the manager, the customer support teams “did a fantastic job,” contacting passengers and suggesting changes to their trips to dates before or after the strike, “in order to minimize the impact of a strike that nobody wants to have, but which is what it is.”
Luís Rodrigues also stated that the “vast majority” of customers accepted the changes: “People want to reach their destinations. In general, it doesn’t make much difference to them whether they go a day earlier or a day later,” he added, referring to the option given by the company to reschedule flights up to three days earlier or later without additional costs.
For a typical operating day at this time of year, TAP operates around 250 to 260 flights, although the exact number for December 11th is still being adjusted due to changes in minimum services and slot issues.
The general strike on December 11th was called by the CGTP and UGT unions in protest against the proposed revision of the Labor Code and will be the first joint strike by the two unions since June 2013, when Portugal was under the intervention of the ‘troika’.