Two unions representing workers in the Azorean aviation sector—SITAVA and SINTAC—have issued a sharp warning to the management of the SATA Group, declaring that they are prepared to take “stronger measures, with immediate effect” unless the concerns of employees are met with what they call “concrete and verifiable” answers.

In a joint statement released this week, the unions delivered a sweeping critique of the airline’s restructuring plan, arguing that it has “failed spectacularly.” According to the unions, the company continues to survive financially “on an IV drip,” sustained by public resources while structural problems remain unresolved.

“Public funds are being spent on self-promotion and appearances,” the statement reads, “while working conditions, wages, and job stability are pushed into second—or even third—place.”

As an example, the unions point to the company’s participation in the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL) 2026, which they claim cost roughly €500,000. In their view, the event became little more than a stage for the company’s leadership.

“It turned into a vanity fair for this administration,” the unions wrote, alleging that the Board of Directors used the event as an opportunity “to parade themselves and showcase an image of success.”

A central grievance involves the treatment of ground operations staff—the handling workforce—who, the unions say, continue to be overlooked in key strategic decisions.

“The company behaves as if SATA were only the aircraft in the sky,” the statement says. “But the airline is made up of everyone who keeps it running—on the ground and in the air.”

Union leaders say workers remain “orphaned from critical operational decisions,” blaming what they describe as stubbornness among some decision-makers and operational ignorance among others. They also criticize management’s ongoing push to separate the handling division from the broader company structure, arguing that such a move would only increase the financial burden on public coffers.

The statement also revisits the failed attempt to privatize Azores Airlines, accusing the administration of refusing to accept responsibility while continuing to promise that a solution is just around the corner. According to the unions, the narrative that the handling division might help rescue the company’s standing with European authorities in Brussels is little more than an attempt to “mask incompetence with empty promises and the absence of answers we have repeatedly demanded.”

Faced with what they call a climate of “waste, opacity, and exclusion,” SITAVA and SINTAC are demanding accountability from the Board of Directors and the suspension of any corporate split that could jeopardize jobs or further undermine the mobility and economic security of the Azorean people.

“We will not accept that operational safety and workers’ dignity be sacrificed for bureaucratic spectacles,” the unions said.

After two years of what they describe as ineffective leadership—“a management style focused more on social media self-promotion than on solving the company’s real problems”—the unions say they will now convene a General Assembly of workers to determine the next steps. Those steps may include public demonstrations, visibility campaigns, and a broader push to demand responsibility from those in charge.

“Our response will be organized, democratic, and grounded in solidarity,” the statement concludes. “We will not allow SATA to become a spectacle while those who actually keep the company alive—its workers, its greatest capital—are once again left to pay the price for managers who seem capable of managing little beyond their own egos.”

In Diário dos Açores, Paulo Viveiros, director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.