After the wild strike of Argentine Airlines which affected more than 150 flights and 15 thousand passengers in both Aeroparque and Ezeiza, the government of Javier Miley decided declare the essentiality of aeronautical activity civil, public and private commercial aviation throughout the national territory, according to the Ministry of Human Capital in charge of Sandra Pettovello.
The government explained that given the strategic importance of this sector for “connectivity, trade and passenger transport”, the regulatory decree will establish measures to “guarantee a minimum level of services in the event of labour conflicts that may totally or partially interrupt activities”.
“This action was taken after it was found that, following the strike carried out yesterday by the APLA and APA aviation sector unions, the minimum services that should be provided for within the framework of essentiality provided for in Article 2 of Law 17,285 were not guaranteed,” said Capital Humano.
“Minister Sandra Pettovello has instructed us to move quickly in this regard given the strategic importance of this sector for connectivity, trade and passenger transport. At Capital Humano we seek to care for and defend the thousands of Argentines who are affected every time measures are taken in this sector,” said Secretary of Labor, Julio Cordero.
Initially, the parties involved must agree on the minimum services to be maintained and, if no agreement is reached, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security will intervene to determine the necessary conditions. Failure to comply with the agreements on minimum services will give rise to sanctions in accordance with current legislation.
This Friday, the pilots’ strike began at 5 a.m. and lasted until 2 p.m. Aerolíneas Argentinas assured Clarion that passengers were accommodated on later flights and that 14 special flights were created outside the original schedule.
At Aeroparque Clarion He witnessed dozens of passengers sitting on the floor or standing in long lines to try to get their flights rescheduled. Many were also outraged at not being able to fly.
The complaint of the president of Aerolíneas Argentinas
The measure had been advanced Fabian Lombardopresident of Aerolíneas Argentinas in the midst of the union strike. “It is a behavior that we do not understand. We had 15 days of assemblies where mainly the pilots’ union, through its head, Pablo Biró, established them, we programmed them and then they changed them,” complained the head of Aerolíneas Argentinas.
“The problem is with the unions, they cannot carry out this wild strike, they do not understand that Argentina has changed. They are asking for a 70% increase. The pilots here have adequate salaries and enormous benefits for them that do not exist in the industry. They do not understand. This was a negotiation that we were carrying out and suddenly they came out with this strike,” he said in a conversation with radio Mitre.
According to Lombardo, pilots earn between 3 and 10 million pesos. “A pilot earns between 3 and 10 million pesos. The average salary is 5.2 million,” said the head of the airline.
As for the benefits for pilots, he said that they have guaranteed business class tickets for themselves and their families: some 5,000 tickets per year, equivalent to a turnover of 20 million dollars.