Ricardo Penarróias, the president of the SNPVAC union, has announced that the union is preparing to file 700 additional cases in court once a Supreme Court decision is finalized. This announcement was made in response to TAP’s financial results, which were released today. TAP, the national airline of Portugal, reported a profit of 53.7 million euros for 2024, a significant decline of 69.7% compared to the 177.3 million euros in net profit recorded the previous year. This decrease has been attributed to extraordinary labor provisions and currency exchange losses.
The SNPVAC has indicated that the decision by the Supreme Court could potentially affect around 2,000 cabin crew members, resulting in potential costs for the airline ranging between 200 to 300 million euros. The court dismissed TAP’s appeal concerning the reinstatement and compensation of cabin crew members laid off during the pandemic, a process that could lead to substantial financial implications for the airline.
The court’s decision, initially made public at the end of last year and upheld in the final ruling, involved the contracts of certain cabin crew members dismissed under the company’s restructuring plan. These contracts were deemed inadequately justified, with the conclusion that the employees should be reinstated as permanent staff with rights to compensation. Although the decision currently applies directly to four crew members, it may set a precedent affecting hundreds more in similar situations.
The union has expressed its willingness to engage with the company to reach a resolution without proceeding to court and has requested a meeting to this effect. “We remain ready and currently have 700 crew-related cases ready that, I would say, can be filed tomorrow through the union,” Penarróias emphasized.
The provision set aside by TAP in its financial results to address potential court outcomes has been viewed positively by the union, which sees it as a sign of the company’s transparency in acknowledging inherited issues from past management practices, assuring that “the crew will receive what is rightfully theirs.”
In response to parliamentary inquiries earlier this year, TAP confirmed having allocated 37.2 million euros to cover ongoing legal proceedings related to the issue. The union expressed satisfaction with last year’s profit figures, viewing them as validation that collective agreements were beneficial investments in employees, the company’s growth, and its valuation.
Due to the pandemic and the restructuring plan, 1,514 employees exited TAP between March 2020 and March 2021. By early this year, 925 workers from different professional categories have been reinstated, receiving a total of 1.74 million euros in compensation.
