Milei To Hand Over Aerolineas Argentinas Routes to Private Companies
An Aerolineas Argentinas plane. X/ @stanleybostero
September 20, 2024 Hour: 8:56 am
The far-right Argentine president thus seeks to end strikes in the aeronautical sector.
On Thursday, President Javier Milei’s administration announced the beginning of talks with private Latin American companies to take over the operation of the routes of the state-owned airline Aerolineas Argentinas during strikes.
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Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni stated that this measure is being implemented due to strikes called by the Airline Pilots Association (APLA).
Since last August, APLA and three other aviation unions have been holding assemblies and strikes at Argentine airports, demanding salary increases, claiming their wages are 80 percent below inflation. Last Friday, APLA and the Argentine Association of Flight Attendants began a 24-hour strike, affecting about 37,000 passengers and costing Aerolineas Argentinas more than US$2.5 million.
Yesterday, administrative staff of the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) also raised the possibility of going on strike while awaiting a new pilots’ assembly led by APLA President Biro, who has been accused by the Ministry of Security of alleged threats and extortion.
“In a private company, if you strike, you get fired. The intention is for those who make life difficult for thousands of Argentinians with these measures to face the same fate,” Adorni said, promising to “put an end to union strikes.”
The announcement came after a meeting attended by Adorni, Chief of Cabinet Guillermo Francos, Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, the President’s General Secretary and the president’s sister Karina Milei, Presidential Advisor Santiago Caputo, Aerolineas Argentinas President Fabian Lombardo, and the Deputy Chief of the Interior Cabinet Lisandro Catalan.
While Milei initially intended to privatize Aerolineas Argentinas, the company was excluded from the list of state-owned enterprises to be privatized under the Law of Principles and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentinians.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE