Buenos Aires Herald 
Argentine President Javier Milei will issue a decree next week declaring the country’s flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas “subject to privatization,” presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced in his Friday press conference.
Adorni said the airline has been running a deficit since former President Cristina Kirchner nationalized it in 2008. He also accused the company of employing far more pilots than the industry average.
“Why should Argentines, including those who have never flown in their lives, pay for this atrocity?” he said.
The President’s Office said it was “unacceptable” for the government to keep financing the airline “while 66% of children live in poverty.” The release was posted hours after the INDEC statistical bureau released figures for the first six months of 2024, showing that poverty grew by 11.2 percentage points to 52.9% and destitution, by 6.2 points. The figures were the first half-year data to fall squarely within the Milei presidency.
In the first version of his flagship Ley Bases bill, Milei vowed to privatize Aerolíneas Argentinas. However, the company was ultimately left off the list of state-owned companies up for privatization in the version approved by Congress.
The president will sidestep this restriction thanks to a provision included in a state reform law (law 23.696) passed in 1989, according to Adorni. That law gives the executive branch the right to decide which companies can be privatized, although the decision must later be confirmed in Congress.
The announcement comes amid a fierce dispute between the government, airlines, and aviation workers’ unions. Strikes and protests have led to flight cancellations and delays all over the country. Pilots and crew members, as well as baggage handlers and other ground staff, have been protesting over pay, overshadowed by a vehement political debate about whether to privatize the national carrier.
The government recently sought to limit strikes by declaring commercial air transport an essential service. However, a court issued a temporary stay order on this measure on Thursday, postponing the final decision for three months.
Last Thursday, Adorni announced that the government was in talks with private aviation companies regarding the possibility of them stepping in to run the national airline.
Lawmakers from the right-wing PRO party have also filed a bill to privatize Aerolíneas. They claim the company has been used for political purposes and is “marked by corruption.” They also object that the carrier is funded by taxpayer pesos, but only the comfortably-off can actually afford to fly.