Pilot strike may hit TAP Portugal's privatisation

Lisbon

A 10-DAY strike by pilots at TAP Portugal, a plunge into losses and sky-high debt have steered the airline, and the government's plans to sell it to private investors, into turbulence.

With investors required to submit offers by Friday, even Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has recognised that the strike - the longest at the airline in four decades - threatens to derail his government's second attempt in three years to privatise the airline.