David Neeleman Denies TAP Air Portugal Overpaid For Airbus Aircraft
Neeleman was one of TAP's owners from 2015-2020.
Recently accusations surfaced that TAP Air Portugal overpaid for Airbus aircraft when David Neeleman was the airline’s owner. Today, Neeleman denied overpaying for the aircraft in an order placed in 2015.
Neeleman denies overpaying Airbus
David Neeleman is widely known in the aviation industry. The Brazilian-American has co-founded several successful airlines, including Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, WestJet, JetBlue, and, most recently, Breeze Airways. In 2015, the Gateway Group, led by Neeleman, purchased TAP Air Portugal, which was in severe financial trouble then.
At the time of the purchase, Gateway said it would provide 53 new aircraft for TAP and infuse between 300-350 million in capital into the carrier. Last month, prosecutors said they were investigating a deal made with Airbus. Today, Neeleman denied making a deal with Airbus in which TAP overpaid for aircraft. When Neeleman and the Gateway Group took over, TAP had an outstanding for 12 Airbus A350 aircraft, which Neeleman said the airline could not afford.
TAP Facility Lisbon 5
Photo: Sumit Singh | Simple Flying
TAP canceled the order for the A350s and instead ordered 53 neo-series aircraft. Neeleman said that when he took over the airline, it was so broken that it did not even have the means to pay employees’ salaries and that canceling the A350 order was essential. He added that if the order had not been canceled, TAP would have gone bankrupt. The Portuguese government bought them out five years after the significant ownership stake was sold to Gateway and Neeleman.
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Continued troubles
TAP’s problems are far from over. Recently, the Portuguese government has expressed interest in selling the majority of its stake in the Portuguese flag carrier, with the Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM group both expressing interest. Earlier this week, the government fired TAP’s CEO, Christine Ourmières-Widener, for her involvement in a financial scandal.
In 2018, Alexandra Reis left her role as the executive director of TAP’s board two years before her contract was up. Upon her departure, she was given a severance payment of 500,000, though she had initially asked for 1.5 million. Reis should never have been compensated that amount and is now required to return most of the severance payment.
TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330-941 CS-TUQ
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Finance Minister Fernando Medina said,
“This episode has shaken the confidence of the Portuguese in TAP and it is essential, above all, to recover the bond of trust between the country and the company.”
Early this week, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Lufthansa’s focus was on acquiring ITA Airways but keeping an eye on TAP.
“The priority for Lufthansa is ITA but, of course, as number one [airline group] in Europe you cannot focus on one take-over candidate only. I do not shy away from TAP.”
An acquisition by Lufthansa is the logical option because TAP is a Star Alliance carrier, and Air France-KLM is part of the SkyTeam Alliance. But anything can happen. With Lufthansa focusing its efforts on ITA, Air France-KLM may emerge as a front-runner for TAP once the Portuguese government announces it is ready to begin negotiations.
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Sources: Sapo24, Reuters
