Airline workers will carry out a 24-hour strike in Argentina starting Friday at noon. The measure will mainly affect Aerolíneas Argentinas flights, although other airlines could also see delays throughout the protest.
Unions grouping Aerolíneas Argentinas pilots and flight attendants announced the strike on Wednesday after having a joint assembly with cargo and administrative workers unions from the same company. The strike will be carried out by members of the Airline Pilots Association (APLA, for its Spanish initials) and the Argentine Association of Crew Members (AAA).
All Aerolíneas Argentinas flights scheduled for those 24 hours will be canceled. The company is working on notifying passengers about the strike so they can reschedule their flights, a source from the carrier told the Herald. Around 25,000 passengers and between 250-270 flights will be affected by the strike, the source added.
Passengers who have their flights canceled because of the protest will be able to reschedule them free of charge. They will have to do it via the purchase option they used — either at the airline’s website or a travel agency.
To reschedule the flight via Aerolíneas Argentinas’ website, passengers will have to enter their reservation code at the “My reservation” option. Then, click “change options” from the menu and choose a new flight from the offered options. The last step is to confirm the selected choice. Passengers will receive their new itinerary via email under the same reservation code.
If you are flying with another airline, contact the company or check their website to verify your flight status remains in place.
More protests coming
Another aviation union will carry out protest measures on September 19 between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. and between 5 and 10 p.m. The protest will affect operative and administrative services at the airports.
Given aviation unions are divided by company and not by line of work, the strike is expected to only affect Aerolíneas Argentinas flights. However, if employees from cargo company Intercargo — which provide ramp operation services for most airlines in Argentina — decide to join in solidarity, this could affect other carriers. Intercargo workers are expected to have assemblies at the airports throughout the 24-hour strike, which could delay some flights.
So far, other airlines that operate domestically — JetSmart and Flybondi — have not warned about any potential issues with their flights. A source from JetSmart told the Herald that they don’t expect to be affected given that their employees are not joining the strike but warned that things could change if Intercargo workers also join.
JetSmart passengers can check their flight status here or call +54 11 2206 7799. Those traveling with Flybondi can do the same on their website.
Aerolíneas Argentinas employees have carried out several strikes in recent weeks, demanding pay rises according to inflation. President Javier Milei has attempted to privatize the company via a massive bill he presented to Congress at the start of his administration, but has so far been unsuccessful. Lawmakers from PRO, his main ally in Congress, recently filed another bill specifically aimed at privatizing it.
This week, Aerolíneas Argentinas announced it would be filing a legal complaint against unions representing airline pilots and flight crew members for flight cancellations and delays caused by workers assemblies and strikes over the last few weeks. The flag carrier will also file charges against Pablo Biró, head of Airline Pilots Association union (APLA, for its Spanish initials), and will begin the procedure to expel him from the Aerolíneas board.