He Air traffic controller strike begins this Wednesday morning and affects the departures of flights to national destinations at all airports in the country. Although the Ministry of Labor had scheduled a new hearing for 10, the first coercive measure was announced for now from 8 to 11.
At Ezeiza International Airport, for example This Wednesday, some services were already running late on the official website. Three Aerolíneas Argentinas flights appeared to Catamarca, San Juan and Ushuaia – with flight schedules between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m delay with expected departure at 11:30 a.m.
The same thing happened with a Flybondi flight to Ushuaia, while other flights from Aerolíneas Argentinas flew to Santiago del Estero and Jujuy were advanced from 8 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. or 7:30 a.m.
A similar panorama was recorded at Aeroparque and airports across the country, so passengers are advised to check their tickets and the status of their flights.
In the run-up to the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Association of Aircraft Protection and Safety Technicians and Employees (ATEPSA) has adopted a strike plan that will last between two and three hours and, as in August, will result in strikes. Cancellations and rescheduling on a date with high demand.
The union retains a right to a Salary increase They claim there has been no government response and confirmed that “from December 17, domestic flights will be gradually affected until international flights will also be affected.”
The conflict between ATEPSA and the Argentine Air Navigation Company (EANA) dates back to the joint agreements signed in September. According to the union, the agreement, reached after a strike in August that led to delays and cancellations, is not being honored.
At that time, the Labor Department had issued mandatory arbitration in response to a violent action affecting commercial flights. However, due to a lack of progress, the claim was made again in November when a schedule was introduced that only affected cargo flights.
After a new meeting that ended without agreement, the union now decided to move forward with the announced strike plan. Government sources said the union’s stance was “inflexible” and called a new meeting for this Wednesday.
Javier Milei’s government rejected the air traffic controllers’ violent measures. The Argentine air traffic control company, which reports to the Ministry of Transport, assumed that this was a strike “illegitimate” and warned that the impact on flights could be greater than announced due to a domino effect.
The company expressed “its deep disagreement with the undue coercive measures announced by the Association of Technicians and Employees of Air Navigation Protection and Safety (ATEPSA).”
“They intend to disrupt an essential service guaranteed by law and disrupt the normal development of passenger air traffic in the middle of the year-end holidays, when flights are vital for hundreds of thousands of Argentines,” the official statement said.
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