SAirGroup is reconsidering whether to go ahead with its planned purchase of a 20% stake in TAP Air Portugal after a tribunal court recommended that the Portuguese national airline's pilots be awarded a 95% pay increase. The Swiss company is also negotiating to take a large minority stake in privately owned regional carrier Portugalia. A deal is imminent, according to airline sources.
SAirGroup says its agreement with the Portuguese Government to buy into TAP was "based on the assumption of conditions at that time", and that as a result of the pilots' pay award, "the matter is now open for us". The pilots, who claim they have not received a pay rise for six years, threaten industrial action if the award is not met.
Source: Flight International
