It was through a statement, in the form of an interview, that the person in charge denied the rumors surrounding the sale of the company. In the note, sent to Angop, Ana Major clarifies that TAAG was not sold to a Spanish group.
The PCA explains that the company concerns an entity "whose shareholder structure is composed of IGAPE (50 percent), ENNA (40 percent) and the Social Fund for Employees and Workers in the Transport Sector (with 10 percent)", adding that although it belongs to the private domain, the Government intends to proceed with its privatization "within a lot of other companies to be privatized".
However, this process will depend "on several conditions of the market context (global volatility in the post-pandemic) and on what it is up to all of us to do in order to value the company and its assets", she indicates, quoted by Angop.
"The ongoing process of transformation and restructuring of TAAG aims to value the company in the medium and long term, and it is premature to talk about the sale of TAAG", she informs.
Ana Major also explained to Angop that TAAG is not a company handed over to foreigners: "TAAG is a company based in Angola, and more than 95 percent of its workforce is Angolan. TAAG is also an international company with aspirations of growth on a global scale and deployed in several geographies".
The official continued saying that, on the other hand, with the new airport and the implementation of the "Open Skies" agreements, the company "is facing a great challenge of internationalization and globalization to respond not only to privatization, but also to competition aggressive attitude that is already beginning to be felt", and for that they accepted "diversity" and respected "all expatriate employees and consultants who temporarily work and contribute to rebuilding TAAG", not agreeing with "expressions of xenophobia, racism and discrimination in any way".
In addition, she also spoke about the dismissals of collaborators, with special attention to the Cabin Navigator Personnel (PNC), denying that there are any dismissals.
"TAAG is not laying off staff, nor is it laying off staff from the PNC", she said, adding that there are "a few employees (PNC) without a permanent bond, that is, with a fixed-term employment contract, and these contracts have reached their of termination, they were not renewed, in light of the legislation in force and with due notice", but this does not mean that "they cannot be reinstated in the future when the operation grows and so is justified".
"The administration is called upon to take management measures in line with good practices. It would not make sense at a time when we have to optimize the company's staff and renew temporary contracts", she added.
In an interview with Angop, she also mentioned relations with the union, stating that the company's management "is open to receiving all union forces and maintains a firm commitment to actively listening to the concerns of our employees", having been created "in Human Capital Department an area of Labor Relations to address immediate and current issues and the Director of Human Resources has already started regular contacts with the unions in this area, having met at least twice with the Union of Navigating Cabin Staff (SINPROPNC) during the month of July".
She added that the SPLA-Pilots' Union and the Union Bureau sent claims and are "dialogue in this area in a very productive way", believing, therefore, that it will "achieve solid and long-term commitments that can meet the expectations of all parts".
The interview also served to clarify that the company in Portugal "will not close", but that "a minimum and essential core of TAAG employees will be maintained at the Lisbon scale".
"Like other international scales Spain/Brazil/South Africa, where TAAG has already adopted the agency model, Lisbon will also adopt the same model to replace its own offices, continuing its operation in the GSA (General Sales Agent) format and with a minimum of employees. The Lisbon stopover will then be managed by an entity called Summerwind GSA. We are also safeguarding the legal rights of employees and treating them with the dignity they deserve", explained Ana Major.
Asked if the company is handing over the offices in Lisbon to people close to the current chairman of the Executive Committee, Eduardo Fairen Soria, the official clarified that the name "Soria" is "very common in Spain" and that "there is no family connection between Summerwind CEO Federico Lledo Soria and our TAAG CEO Eduardo Fairen Soria".
Regarding the choice of Summerwind, he explained that it has more than 25 years of experience in the field of "airline representation and a record of excellence in terms of quality of service and personalized customer service, having earned the trust of more than 15 airlines, while customers from different countries of the world including Latin America where TAAG expects to grow".
Asked why they opted for the SGA format in international schools, Ana Major told Angop that, when analyzing the "cost structure of TAAG, it was diagnosed that international scales in the traditional model (own office + staff) were quite expensive and little flexible for crisis situations (...) or market volatility, which is a characteristic of the post-pandemic phase".
Thus, recent studies "have also validated that, taking into account the costs and benefits, the best option is to adopt the representation model through a GSA", he said, adding that this model has already been "successfully applied" by the company in other areas, such as Brazil and South Africa.
"The GSA model proves to be the most efficient format, with greater cost savings and more agile to deal with the current volatility of foreign markets. The implementation of this model has brought very positive results in terms of business development, among which, greater volume revenue, more commercial attractiveness in scales and more efficiency in customer service", he said.
Another of the questions in the interview, according to Angop, was whether the administration "is sinking the company", to which the PCA said no.
"We were able to finalize and audit TAAG's accounts for the first half of 2022", she said, explaining that "the report and accounts, the monitoring of the financial execution of this period is clear about the path we are taking".
"In a global way, we can say that the company is reducing its exposure to debt to key suppliers, reporting less and less negative results, as the commercial attractiveness and revenue is evolving favorably. We are growing in new routes, more flight frequencies, more business partnerships and recovering key certifications that expand our reputation with local and international entities", she added.
She also assured that TAAG's entire Boeing fleet will not be replaced by Airbus and that the flag carrier is not leasing Airbus planes and deploying only foreign crew.
"TAAG has entered into a commercial agreement with ALC (Air Lease Corporation) for the provision of six Airbus A220-300 aircraft with phased deliveries starting in August 2023. The operation of these Airbus A220-300 aircraft will rely exclusively on pilots and Angolan cabin, as well as the maintenance management will be done by local teams", she said, quoted by Angop.
Regarding a possible withdrawal from the administration, Ana Major dismissed this possibility: "That option was not given to us. We have a direction for TAAG, and only one direction to go forward! The challenges are enormous, but the team is prepared and We count on everyone on this journey. We have to be aware that many of the decisions to be made will not be easy, but they will be indispensable for the company to survive, as well as for the legacy that we all want to leave for the generation of tomorrow".
