A strike by pilots and crew demanding pay rises in inflation-hit Argentina affected more than 30,000 passengers on Friday, according to the airline and unions Aerolineas Argentinas.
As workers walked off the job for the second time this month, President Javier Millay was preparing to sign a decree declaring the aviation sector an “essential service” to guarantee a minimum level of service during such strikes, the spokesman said. of.
The 24-hour strike led to the cancellation of 319 flights, affecting mostly domestic and regional travelers, but also hundreds of passengers heading to the United States and Europe.
53-year-old engineer Alex Rodriguez from Costa Rica became trapped while on his way to visit one of South America’s top tourist attractions, the stunning Iguazu Falls on the border between Argentina and Brazil.
“We planned the holiday a long time ago, about three months ago. We came from a long way, it was expensive and then everything fell apart,” he told AFP.
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The general secretary of the Aviation Personnel Association (APA), Juan Pablo Bray, said the purchasing power of air force personnel has fallen by 40 percent since Millay took office in December.
Since taking office in December, Milei has implemented a drastic austerity program in an effort to curb chronic inflation and decades of government overspending.
But annual inflation still stands at 236.7 percent, and the economic slowdown sparked by budget cuts has hit Argentines’ pockets hard.
Bray told a local radio station that cabin crew earned 729,000 pesos ($730 at the official exchange rate) and ground crew members 500,000 pesos — half of what they might make at some low-cost carriers.
Aerolineas Argentinas said the strike was “untimely, abusive and out of context, promoted by union leaders in an irresponsible manner”.
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Milei’s spokesman, Manuel Adorni, said those striking would face “fines and penalties”.
Milei had tried to privatize Aerolineas Argentinas as part of his sweeping economic reforms, but was forced to remove the company from the list of those to be privatized to get his measures through parliament earlier this year.
Source: AFP