The privatization process of Azores Airlines seems to have reached a deadlock, just when it was thought that there was a clear willingness to negotiate between the bidding consortium and the unions. The deadlock stems from the airline’s management’s alleged failure to provide information requested by the negotiating parties, which it considers confidential. We do not have sufficient information to assess the parties’ arguments, but the result is a deadlock.

The management of the Azores Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIA) has publicly expressed its concern and dissatisfaction with the progress of the process and the uncertainty it is causing. For the CCIA, “as this is a matter of paramount importance and impact on the regional economy and finances, as well as on the mobility of residents and tourists, it was essential to have more and more transparent information on the most relevant aspects of this process, while safeguarding necessarily confidential issues.” The CCIA’s management fears the company may be forced to close and therefore reiterates the need to create a contingency plan to maintain current routes and frequencies. We understand that the ongoing negotiation process is dynamic, that there are new developments every day, and that, to avoid disruption, these should not be discussed in public. However, it is also true that the jury in charge of the process has already set all possible and imaginable deadlines and postponements, and that it is time to put an end to it, that is, to move beyond this phase.

The sole candidate consortium must decide, once and for all: either it is interested and makes a binding proposal, or it pulls out. And the deadline for doing so must be set definitively. There are commitments to be met with Brussels, and the longer the negotiations with the consortium drag on, the less time the Regional Government will have to implement the announced plan B, which would be to seek out and negotiate directly with other potential interested parties. We must be aware that the worst thing that could happen to Azores Airlines would be its outright closure, not only because of the direct consequences of laying off hundreds of workers, but also because of the damage to the regional economy. On the contrary, keeping it going with the overwhelming majority of its share capital outside the public sphere, restructured in line with the new owners’ plans for the company, would not only secure jobs but also continue to serve the Azores’ economy and, above all, provide an alternative means of transport for the Azoreans.

It is therefore time to clarify positions, decide whether to present a proposal, and make a decision. All this with a deadline, without further hesitation. Having reached this point, the people of the Azores are eager for the process to end.

From the editorial board of the newspaper Diário Insular-Terceira, Azores.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers, writers, and editorial boards from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).