The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has initiated legal proceedings against TAROM airlines for their refusal to divulge information of public interest regarding the conditions under which their baggage handling services were contracted. During the summer months, tens of thousands of passengers were compelled to wait for extended periods in queues to retrieve their luggage at Otopeni airport, due to a shortage of handling personnel. This situation exemplifies a significant deficiency in organisational structure and a disregard for passengers, who are the direct victims of these shortcomings.
FACIAS has endeavoured to elucidate the particulars of the handling contract entered into by TAROM with the aforementioned entity, in addition to the prospective solutions under consideration by TAROM.
Unanswered questions
In this context, FACIAS has requested, on the basis of Law no. 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest, answers from TAROM on the following issues:
- Legality of the handling contract: Has TAROM complied with all legal procedures when contracting the handling agent responsible for baggage handling?
- Knowledge of personnel issues: Was TAROM aware that the handling agent did not have enough staff to cope with the volume of baggage and flights handled?
- Solutions and remedies: What concrete and immediate measures have been proposed and implemented by TAROM to remedy these serious shortcomings?
- Identify and hold those responsible to account: Did TAROM's management or the handling agent responsible for the situation have the individuals identified and sanctioned?
These queries remain unanswered, as TAROM has declined to respond to the request, in contravention of Law 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest. Consequently, citizens have been deprived of the information they are entitled to. The Foundation has petitioned the court to require the airline to respond to these issues.
In accordance with the legal requirements, the state-owned company TAROM is obliged to demonstrate transparency, to take immediate action to improve the quality of its services and to identify those responsible for the operational crisis. Concurrently, it is essential that the competent authorities, specifically the Ministry of Transport and the Government, closely monitor the evolution of this situation and ensure that citizens are no longer victims of mismanagement.