God has an Argentine document. Or he would seem to have it, at least for those who administer the national airline system. Perhaps it is because, in order to be as close as possible to the Creator, the organization of passenger transport in our skies is unique in the world. Or almost unique.
On July 17 last year, 15 years since the nationalization of Aerolíneas Argentinas by Cristina Kirchner. In that time, The company lost something like $10 billion. And although on paper it appears like a joint-stock company, it is state-owned like ANSES or PAMI. That is, this deficit is also paid by the pensioners of both organizations and the rest of the Argentines.
Low-cost airlines are gaining ground in the domestic market, largely dominated by Aerolíneas Argentina. By nationalizing it, Cristina created a strange law that almost no other country has: the state must always pay whatever amount Aerolíneas Argentinas loses. It doesn’t matter how much money it is. A flag line tinged with partisan politics, with extravagant salaries, that fluctuates on the winds of apparent public debt in a bankrupt country.
Despite the deficit, something happens to the airlineFor years it has been losing position on the domestic market. According to sources from the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), validated by the Ministry of Tourism, AA would have lost about 10 market points in the last year.
Argentine Airlines knew how to transport up to 73% of passengers on domestic flights. Today he is still driving but by 62%. The big winners were the two low cost ones that remained standing after the pandemic: Flybondi and Jets Smart, which with others like Norwegian who left the country, began operating under the Mauricio Macri government’s Open Skies plan.
In AA they admit it Clarion that there may have been some decline in local market dominance, but “it’s not catastrophic at all.” “We continue to largely drive air travel, even in these last six days of Holy Week We sold 240 thousand tickets on domestic flights, almost 30% more than last year. It is true that other companies have also grown”, they indicate.
In addition to the routes to other Argentine provinces, through AA alone, around 20,000 people traveled to other countries in those six days of XXL holidays. “14,000 passengers to the United States, especially Miami, and 5,000 passengers to Europe”, they specify to this newspaper.
Returning to the competition in the airline market, specialists point out that both Jetsmart and Flybondi have made the leap thanks to an aggressive pricing policy favored by lower costs compared to AA.
When Latam Argentina ceased to exist, it controlled 20% of the market. “These passengers, almost entirely, have started traveling with low-cost airlines”, they underline. Today Flybondi and Jetsmart They carry about 37% of passengers on domestic flights.
“Jetsmart has moved more than 60,000 passengers during the long weekend, from Thursday to Tuesday, on 330 domestic and international flights to 17 destinations,” he says ClarionDaniele Scioli, undersecretary of Tourism and Sport.
The official who joined Javier Milei’s government after having been ambassador to Brazil under Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner, added that Flybondi carried out 450 flights with 78,000 passengers, 85% domestic.
That is, at least in these six days of mini vacation, The two low-cost vehicles carried just over 50% of the passengers chosen by Aerolíneas Argentinas.
AA is by far the airline with the most planes. It is also further ahead in terms of the number of administrative employees, pilots and crew on board. It operates 50 Boeing 737s, which measure 35 meters and have a capacity of 185 passengers. It also has another 26 Embraers, smaller and with 110 passengers. International flights are carried out with 10 heavy aircraft, Airbus 330.
Flybondi’s fleet is made up exclusively of Boeing 737s while Jetsmart’s fleet is made up of Airbus. Between them they don’t reach 35 planes.
“The airlines will continue to lose money and the market. It is natural that this is the case, because it is a poorly managed, expensive and inefficient company. With much higher salaries than competitors. Furthermore, they fly less”, understands Franco Rinaldi, a specialist in commercial issues, who did not give up Jorge Macri’s candidacy for Buenos Aires deputy in the midst of the election campaign.
A senior official from Aerolíneas Argentinas who has close contact with La Cámpora and who requests anonymity, denies that Máximo Kirchner’s organization works against low cost airlines.
“It is true that El Palomar airport was closed for an ideological question: what Macri had done had to be destroyed. But after a short period in Ezeiza, it was it benefited Flybondi and Jetsmart by allowing them to operate from Aeroparque. Their business has grown like never before, they admit it themselves and they don’t even want to return to El Palomar, “he says.
Source: Clarin
