Regional Government appoints Rui Coutinho as SATA President and creates company's Strategic Council
Ponta Delgada
Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública
The Regional Government has decided to create a Strategic Council within the SATA Group, to be chaired by a person of acknowledged merit and professional suitability, appointing Rui Coutinho as President of the Board of Directors of SATA Holding.
According to Duarte Freitas, Regional Secretary for Finance, "the XIV Government of the Azores, as sole shareholder of SATA Holding, S.A., has decided that this is the time to promote changes in the Group's corporate organisational structure."
In a reformist move, a Strategic Council will be created, with statutory rights, which will include between seven and nine members. It aims to make decision-making processes on strategic matters more resilient, promoting the alignment of all the interests involved and strengthening the reflection on SATA's role in the Region.
The Regional Government believes that the creation of a Strategic Council in the management structure of SATA Holding, S.A. is pertinent, especially to foster and deepen the debate on the main strategic challenges facing the company, considering the different perspectives of those representing the interests of the Azoreans and the SATA Group.
Regarding the Board of Directors of SATA Holding, S.A., the new President will appoint the other members to the Board of Directors, which will maintain all the competences currently laid down in the company's statutes.
According to Berta Cabral, the Regional Secretary responsible for Mobility, "the Regional Government has defined as a priority for the new President of the Board of Directors of SATA Holding, S.A., strict compliance with the Restructuring Plan approved by the European Commission. As such, it entails the stabilisation of the reorganisation of the corporate structure, the adaptation of the operation, with improved efficiency and cost reduction, the safeguarding of SATA Air Açores, the privatisation of Azores Airlines, the restructuring and sale of the company's handling business and the presentation of a proposal in an eventual new tender for territorial Public Service Obligations, as the company is banned from operating loss-making routes."
The Regional Government has decided to maintain Bernardo Oliveira and João Crispim Ponte as Non-Executive Directors on the Board of Directors of SATA Holding, S.A., with a view to monitoring the work under the Restructuring Plan.
The Regional Government would like to thank Carla Neto and José Roque for their work, commitment, responsibility and loyalty to SATA at a difficult time when their technical skills and human qualities were clearly demonstrated.
With these decisions, the Regional Government is fully confident that SATA Group and its employees will move towards a future of sustainability and fulfilment of the fundamental mission for which SATA was born.
