The 24-hour strike announced by three aviation unions for this Wednesday in the Aerolíneas Argentinas and Intercargo companies will have repercussions not only on the state airline’s flights but also on virtually the entire airline operation of that day. This includes most airline flights. foreign airlines that land in the countryside.
The decision of Aircraft Pilots Association (APLA), the Aviation Staff Association (APA) e Union of hierarchical staff (UPSA) to strike from scratch on Wednesday to demand a wage recomposition was decided after a meeting at the end of last week of these three unions with the driving by planeled by Fabián Lombardo.
But the measure of force will eventually affect not only the airlines, but all airlinesboth those that compete with airlines on national flights, the “low cost” Flybondi and JetSmart, and the dozens of foreign airlines that land at Ezeiza airport, at Aeroparque and in some inland airports with international flights.
The reason is that the force measurement will extend to Interloadalso a state-owned company, which provides ramp services.
Intercargo has the monopoly of baggage and passenger customs clearance services for all foreign airlines operating in the country and also for most domestic Flybondi and JetSmart flights. Intercargo employees are part of the Aeronautical Personnel Association (APA), which is led by Edgardo Llano.
In this context, one of the foreign airlines with the largest number of operations in the country came out this Monday to warn its passengers of “delays and/or cancellations”: it is LATAMthe same one that closed its Argentine branch in June 2020, and which continues to be one of the most active in its flights from abroad.
“The LATAM Group reports that, There may be delays and/or cancellations on flights to and from Argentina for February 28 due to the Intercargo strike announced throughout the country,” the company warned in a statement on Monday.
A plane from Latin America.It added that it is communicating with passengers “so they can change their travel date”. free”.
The alternatives proposed by the airline is to bring flights forward to this Monday or Tuesday or postpone them to a new date up to 15 days after the original date. The web address where you can check the status of your flight is https://www.latamairlines.com/ar/es/flight-status.
LATAM’s activity in Ezeiza airport, as well as in Aeroparque and other inland airports, represents approximately 30% of Intercargo’s turnover, according to industry sources. LATAM, in its statement, describes it as “the company that provides ramp services, responsible for transferring passengers and their baggage” to and from airport buildings.
There are only two exceptions within the Intercargo monopoly: Argentine airlineswhich has its own ramp company (Aerohandling) and American Airlineswhich in Argentina has its own equipment and personnel for these services (as well as a workshop in Ezeiza where it carries out maintenance and repairs of a large part of its fleet).
Source: Clarin
