This Friday, Javier Milei’s government reaffirmed its intention to privatize or close Aerolíneas Argentinas, in a context of growing tension with the main aviation workers’ unions, which are demanding better salaries.
Upon entering a meeting with representatives of the sector’s main unions, the Argentine Secretary of Transport, Franco Mogetta, explained that the executive’s intention continues to be to privatize the country’s largest airline.
“And if the privatization doesn’t happen, we will try to get the employees to accept it. And if they don’t accept it, it will be closed, but Aerolíneas Argentinas will not continue to have the financing it has from the State, which during the whole time of ‘Kirchnerism’ cost eight US $1 billion for Argentina”, said Franco Mogetta in statements to Radio Miter.
The Secretary of Transport clarified that, even so, “it is a company that cannot close overnight”, since “there are people who bought tickets and there are people who need to travel in the coming months”.
The Government has already proposed the privatization of Aerolíneas Argentinas, the largest company in the country, when it presented its draft Law on Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, approved by deputies, but eliminated the airline from the list of “privatizable companies” in June to try to reach a consensus in the debate in the Senate.
At the end of September, the executive declared the company “susceptible to privatization” and tried again to move in this direction, without success due to a lack of political support.
The Transport Secretary’s statements come after a week of high tension in the conflict, with forceful measures from workers in the face of staff layoffs and a strong reaction from the government.
In response to a workers’ assembly that left around 2,000 passengers trapped on planes for a few hours on Wednesday, the executive announced on Thursday the liberalization of the ramp services market at Argentine airports and the dismissal of 15 company workers responsible for this task – Intercargo -, due to non-compliance with obligations.
The Transport Secretary went further today and added that the Government also intends to privatize that company.
“This is one of the companies that is on the list of companies to be privatized and as soon as possible, as soon as it is viable according to the offers and proposals we have, we will carry it out”, stated the government official.
Members of the Government are meeting today with members of the Aeronautical Personnel Association (APA), the Argentine Association of Aeronauts (AAA) and the Airline Pilots Association (APLA) – the main unions in the sector – to try to put an end to the conflict, which started in August.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
