Amid the escalation of the union conflict, the libertarian administration is evaluating the different options for its intervention. According to Adorni, the objective of the national administration is “Bury the union pickets and the aeronautical caste“.
Those interested in Aerolíneas Argentinas
Prior to the presidential spokesman’s announcement, the libertarian administration shared a photograph of a meeting attended by the Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei; the Chief of Staff, Guillermo Francos; the deputy chief of staff of the Interior, Lisandro Catalan; the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo; the head of Aerolíneas Argentinas, Fabian Lombardo; the presidential spokesman, Manuel Adorni and the presidential advisor, Santiago CaputoThere, the government’s inner circle debated the future of the state-owned company.
Initially, there would be four main actors interested in getting involved in the bidding to manage Aerolíneas Argentinas. Among them is the Colombian multinational Avianca; the Brazilian Blue Airlines; a local corporate group and the Bolivian businessman German Efromovich.
Amidst rumors about who the interested parties might be, the Chilean group LATAM reported that they were not part of these negotiations. “In relation to statements released by different media in different countries about the interest in the purchase of Aerolíneas Argentinas, The LATAM group reports that it is not part of these conversations“, the firm stated.
The presidential spokesman did not specify in his press conference how this transfer operation would be carried out. In the event of moving forward with the privatization of Aerolíneas Argentinas, the government – which is launching a campaign of attrition against the state-owned company – requires a law that is approved by Congress.
In the original project of the Law Basesthe company was included as being susceptible to privatization. Finally, after negotiations with the opposition, the company was removed from the list.
Aerolíneas Argentinas: a new rift between the Government and the PRO
Prior to the government’s official announcement, former President Mauricio Macri used his social networks to demand a “urgent disarmament plan” for the state-owned company. In a long message shared on his X account, the PRO leader targeted the union sector and advocated for the privatization of the flag carrier in line with the project presented by Hernán Lombardi.
Regarding the future of the company, Macri said that there are three alternatives to “stop solving Aerolíneas’ deficit with taxes.” The first of them is “start a bankruptcy process“. If this happens, the businessman assured that “the old collective bargaining agreements” or the sale of their assets will not be transferred to the buyer.”
A second option would be the “splitting the company into two (or three) new ones, one for air and the other for ground services“. According to the former president’s plan, the same would also present new collective agreements.
Macri’s latest proposal is to move towards a “downsizing of the company” and the “liquidation of its assets separately“. Thus, the planes would pass”to new entrants in the market“and the rest of the assets – such as simulators, maintenance area and the ramp company – would be auctioned off by another.
The Government’s response to this was to distance itself from the proposals of the Pro leader: “We do not need any privatization or any privatization project,” the Executive detailed and ironically said: “Macri’s post is very long, we did not read it. Also, what position does he hold?“
Source: Ambito
