SATA Airlines workers and the SATA Group are staging a labor mobilization by calling for an ‘extraordinary plenary’ in Ponta Delgada on Friday.

The extraordinary meeting, convened by the SATA Air Açores Workers’ Committee, follows a street demonstration held three weeks ago and reflects the workforce’s growing anxiety over the future of the public airline group.

According to Dário Ponte, president of the Workers’ Committee, the plenary is intended as a mass meeting of all SATA employees, rather than a strike or work stoppage.

“This is a democratic space for debate and decision,” Ponte explained, adding that workers will evaluate recent developments and consider possible actions should management and political authorities fail to offer clear commitments regarding the company’s future.

The agenda will address three major points: (1) the financial situation of the SATA Group; (2) the operational and labor impacts of the sale of the handling unit; and (3) the ongoing privatization process of Azores Airlines.

Employees have voiced serious concerns about the potential fragmentation of the company, the risk of job losses, and the long-term effects on regional air connectivity across the Azores archipelago and to North America.

While no work stoppage or flight cancellations have been announced in connection with Friday’s plenary, union leaders note that frustration is mounting.

“We want clarity, not uncertainty,” Ponte said. “The workers have been patient and responsible, but they need assurances that SATA’s restructuring will not undermine its mission to serve the Azorean people.”

The Regional Government of the Azores, as the airline’s main shareholder, continues to face mounting pressure to balance economic reform with public service obligations. The outcome of the plenary is expected to influence future labor negotiations and could shape the next phase of SATA’s privatization process.

The fate of Azores Airlines has become increasingly uncertain as the company’s privatization process faces new delays and mounting financial strain. As negotiations unfold, Azorean communities in the United States and Canada are watching closely — hopeful the airline that carried so many of them home will not become a story of the past.

Since its creation as SATA Internacional in 1990, Azores Airlines has been more than a commercial carrier — it has been a bridge between the mid-Atlantic islands and their far-flung communities abroad. Azorean emigrants have relied on these routes to sustain family ties, foster cultural exchange, and promote regional tourism.

PAJ/Staff