Buenos Aires Herald 
Lawmakers from the right-wing PRO party have filed a bill to privatize state-owned airline Aerolíneas Argentinas. They claim the company has been used for political purposes and “marked by corruption,” adding that the carrier is funded with taxpayer pesos, but only the comfortably-off can actually afford to fly.
The bill was filed amid a pay dispute between unions representing Aerolíneas Argentinas pilots and other workers and the company’s management. Employees have carried out several strikes over the year, and industrial action intensified in August.
“The deficit Aerolíneas Argentinas causes to the state treasury is a publicly known fact: in 2023 alone, the carrier reported losses of around US$200 million,” says the text that precedes the bill.
Aerolíneas Argentinas was privatized once before, in 1990, as part of the mass privatizations carried out by former President Carlos Menem. It was expropriated and returned to state hands in 2008. The document states that the new bill is based on the 1989 state reform law that paved the way for Menem’s sell-offs.
The document was signed by 20 deputies from PRO, which is the main ally of La Libertad Avanza, President Javier Milei’s libertarian coalition. The deputies write that “air connectivity is a fundamental pillar of economic development,” but state that high air fares mean “traveling on the national airline has become the reserve of a privileged few, financed by those who can barely cover their basic needs.”
It also says that privatizing the airline would make it more competitive and efficient, since it has not been able to lower its prices to compete with the low-cost carriers Flybondi and JetSmart.
Aerolíneas Argentinas recently launched cheap flights to tourist hotspots like Iguazú and Bariloche, between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., to compete with these airlines.
On Friday, Aerolíneas Argentinas pilots and flight attendants carried out a nine-hour strike in Aeroparque (Jorge Newbery) and Ezeiza (Ministro Pistarini) airports demanding higher salaries, which led to 183 flights being canceled. Another strike was scheduled for Saturday, this time by an air traffic controllers’ union. However, all that union’s scheduled strikes for September were canceled after the Labor Secretariat required the parties to return to the negotiating table until a solution is reached.
President Javier Milei has been vocal about his desire to privatize Aerolíneas Argentinas, and even included it in a list of state companies to privatize in the original version of his flagship reform law known as the Ley Bases. The opposition, however, managed to exclude that provision, and the carrier was off the list in the final bill passed in Congress.
In July, the government began removing regulations on the commercial aviation industry, making it easier for new airlines to operate in Argentina. This means more competition for the national carrier. Currently, JetSmart and Flybondi are the only airlines to compete with Aerolíneas on domestic routes. After these changes, low cost AraJet is set to start providing flights between Argentina and the Dominican Republic, Miami and New York.
While the government has not taken any further steps towards privatizing Aerolíneas Argentinas, it has moved to restrict strikes. On Saturday, Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello announced that the ministry will establish airlines as an essential service. This means the sector will have to provide a minimum service at all times and will not be allowed to carry out mass strikes.
The Labor Secretariat will establish measures to “guarantee a minimum service during union conflicts that may partially or totally interrupt services,” Pettovello said.
