Argentine Pilots Brace for National Strike After Negotiations with Government Collapse
Argentina is on the brink of a national pilots' strike after the APLA union announced that negotiations over the controversial Decree 378/2025 have officially failed.
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The Asociación de Pilotos de Líneas Aéreas (APLA), Argentina's airline pilots' union, announced this Monday that the Mandatory Conciliation period with the National Government has ended without an agreement, leaving the union with the freedom to call for a national strike. The industrial action, with a date to be announced soon, will affect all air services in the country and marks an escalation in the conflict sparked by Decree 378/2025.
The union reported through its official channels that "the Mandatory Conciliation period has ended without receiving any responses from the Government to resolve this situation." This legal step, mandated by the Secretariat of Labor, aimed to open a channel for dialogue and temporarily suspend any direct action while the parties negotiated a solution.
The core of the dispute is Decree 378/2025, a regulation published in the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic in early June 2025. The decree substantially modifies Title V of the Aeronautical Code, focusing specifically on duty times, maximum flight hours, and minimum rest periods for civil aviation crews.
The government's stated objective is to deregulate the sector, align local regulations with international standards—citing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a reference—and grant airlines greater flexibility in managing their operations. Among its most controversial points, the decree increases the maximum allowable annual flight hours for pilots from 800 to 1,000, reduces mandatory weekly rest, and modifies the vacation schedule. The APLA union argues that these changes were imposed without technical consensus and severely compromise operational safety by increasing the risk of crew fatigue, which forms the basis of their opposition and the current conflict.
The Conflict: In Brief
Who? The Airline Pilots' Association (APLA) and the Argentine National Government.
Why? The union rejects Decree 378/2025, which it considers technically flawed and a risk to safety by increasing flight hours and reducing rest periods.
What Happened? The legal negotiation period (Mandatory Conciliation) ended without the Government offering a solution acceptable to the pilots.
What's Next? APLA has announced it will call a national pilots' strike, with a date to be confirmed, which will impact all flights in the country.
In its statement, the union once again urges the National Government "to nullify this incoherent and unsustainable decree." The pilots' association emphasizes that the regulation poses a serious risk to operational safety, a fundamental pillar of aviation activity.
Furthermore, APLA intensified its claim by stating it holds the government "personally, civilly, and criminally responsible for the consequences of its implementation." This warning reflects the seriousness with which the union perceives the decree's potential impact on daily air operations.
With the failure of conciliation, the prospect of a total shutdown of air services operated by APLA-affiliated pilots is now a tangible possibility. The industry and passengers await the announcement of the date and scope of the strike, which could cause significant disruptions to domestic and international flights throughout the Argentine Republic. As of now, there has been no official statement from government authorities following the union's announcement.
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