The protest by the Argentine Association of Flight Attendants (AAA) and the Association of Airline Pilots (APLA), which halted 150 flights, took place amid the adjustments promoted by ultra-liberal President Javier Milei, which have greatly affected the state-owned company Aerolíneas Argentinas.
A strike by two aviation unions demanding higher wages affected 15,000 passengers in Argentina on Friday, triggering chaos at airports where travelers were waiting for news about the rescheduling of their flights.
The protest by the Argentine Association of Flight Attendants (AAA) and the Association of Airline Pilots (APLA), which halted 150 flights, took place amid the adjustments promoted by ultra-liberal President Javier Milei, which have greatly affected the state-owned company Aerolíneas Argentinas.
Thousands of passengers lined up at the counters at Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports and stared at flight information screens, which displayed red signs announcing "cancelled."
"Here they didn't give me any options for leaving later in the day and I needed to travel today. The only option they gave me was to cancel my flight and leave it open for a year (...) and I have to figure out how to travel to my destination," said Tamara Gutman, a 41-year-old graphic designer.
The unions said they had not received a satisfactory wage increase offer, in the context of annual inflation of 264%, the highest in the world.
"After months of intense negotiations and putting all our efforts into avoiding this conflict, we have no choice but to carry out these actions until we receive an adequate offer in line with inflation," said Juan Pablo Brey, leader of AAA, in a statement.
Aerolíneas Argentinas has cut some frequencies and reduced its workforce in recent months, amid the adjustments promoted by Milei to overcome a deep economic crisis.
“The APLA and AAA unions have already demonstrated their clear intention to do as much harm as possible to the company's passengers during the covert strikes of the last two weeks. In response to every attempt by Aerolíneas Argentinas to reschedule, delay, bring forward or apply any type of measure to mitigate the impact of these strikes, the unions modified the protest schedules to affect as many people as possible. This reprehensible attitude will continue to be responded to by the company with discounts and sanctions,” AA authorities indicated in a local media.
The government has already announced that it will seek to privatize the company and has pushed for a reform to open up the country's aviation sector, inviting foreign airlines to enter the market long dominated by the state-owned airline.
