Due to the boycott of the pilots, Aerolíneas Argentinas suspends the salary negotiation table with the unions

This morning Aerolíneas Argentinas informed the unions AAA -crew-, APA -ramp and check-in- and APLA -pilots- that it suspended the summons for joint meetings until the forceful measures are withdrawn that have a direct impact on passengers.

The company had resumed talks with these unions last Thursday, negotiation that had not registered progress for more than two months. Senior officials from the transportation area and the Chief of Staff participated in that meeting along with the general secretaries of the unions in conflict.

The meeting, which was publicly and insistently demanded by Pablo Biró himself, had the objective of advancing a solution that would avoid further harm to the passengers of Aerolíneas Argentinas. Next, technical meetings were held on Friday at the company’s corporate building and follow-up meetings were scheduled for this week.

However, even in this context of reopening work tables, The APLA union made the decision to cause the cancellation of four international flights long-range that were scheduled for this last weekend. Representatives of the company had expressly mentioned the situation of those flights and reiterated this request in successive calls to the highest authorities of the union, emphasizing the protection of passengers, direct victims of this measure. Despite having the tools to avoid these cancellations, from APLA there was a manifest lack of interest and will in making these flights operate.

“This irresponsible provocation by the APLA authorities shows that the salary conflict is an excuse for the union authorities – not for its members – to wage a personal political battle. And in this act, they dragged away the possibility of continuing any type of exchange with the other unions despite their willingness to continue the talks,” they detail in a statement.

And he adds: “The consequence of APLA’s decision this last weekend was that 2,178 passengers who had planned to travel to and from Cancun, Miami, Rome and Madrid were unable to board their flights and had to be relocated to other itineraries. The teams of the company are still making an enormous effort to reaccommodate these passengers on their own flights and those of other airlines. As part of the palliative actions, the company had to resort to hiring charter flights from other companies.

Finally, the flagship company warns: “Aerolíneas Argentinas deeply regrets the consequences of this measure by the APLA union in the travel plans of our passengers, which will be reported to the government and judicial authorities due to its abusive nature and its direct economic damage to the company.