Miguel de Sousa's opinion article about TAP's privatization was published in the Diário de Notícias da Madeira after a 24-hour delay, which the author of this text considers to have been an act of "editorial compassion" on the part of the newspaper, and not censorship.
The text critiques several ideas advocated by Miguel de Sousa. One of them is the suggestion of an IBERIA/BA/TAP consortium, which the author considers unviable due to European competition rules, arguing that the European Commission would never authorize Iberia to merge with TAP, as it would risk creating a monopoly in Southern Europe and kill Lisbon's Hub.
The article also attacks what it calls the "Theory of Air Races," where Miguel de Sousa allegedly suggested that passenger safety depends on speaking Portuguese with the crew, and criticizes his conspiratorial theory about the French in Madeira's airport management, clarifying that the concession to VINCI was due to the Region's default and not to any Gallic collusion.
Finally, the author deconstructs the idea that TAP lost money "out of love for Madeira" and blames Miguel de Sousa for having blamed the Azores for the Mobility Subsidy mess, when the real problem was Madeira's acceptance of a reimbursement model that allowed airlines to inflate prices. The article ends by suggesting that the best bet for TAP would be Air France/KLM.
