Aerolíneas Argentinas Faces Privatization as Milei Prepares to Sign Controversial Decree

During his morning press conference at the Casa Rosada, presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced today that Javier Milei will sign a decree declaring Aerolíneas Argentinas subject to privatization.

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This will be done, explained Adorni, by relying on Article 9 of Law 23.696 on State Reform, which he claims authorizes him to do so.

«As you all know, Aerolíneas Argentinas has been carrying a chronic deficit due to the disastrous management by populist governments, which has led to the need for constant transfers of public funds, putting fiscal sustainability at risk,» Adorni continued, detailing that the national government has contributed over 8 billion dollars to sustain Aerolíneas Argentinas since its re-nationalization in 2008.

The spokesperson also spoke about an «oversized structure» and the «number of benefits the company enjoyed at the expense of a poor Argentina,» such as «transportation, payment for travel time, birthday perks, free tickets, paid rescheduling, limits on shifts, uniforms and their replacement, bonuses in dollars, rest conditions different from the industry, holiday periods, compensations, commissions, tickets for marriage and children, or if retired, they continued traveling at a minimal fare, etc.»

He then reconfirmed that next week, Javier Milei will sign the decree to privatize the airline. However, from that point forward, there will be a long road ahead until its implementation, likely full of legal challenges to block it.

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In this regard, sources specialized in aviation law told Aviacionline that, if carried out this way, the privatization is built on «shaky ground» as it will be difficult to convince a judge that it is based on an urgent need, and thus prevent any injunctive measures.

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