MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Aerolíneas in the verge of closure

Aerolíneas Argentinas, the Argentine air flag carrier for decades that was purchased ten years ago by Iberia seems inches away from its final closure.

A campaign rejecting Spanish produce and services, plus hearings in the Argentine Congress, are so far the only tangible reactions to the failed talks in Madrid between Argentine Minister of Labor officials and SEPI, the Spanish company that holds a majority stake, 92%, in the company. However Pedro Ferraras, head of SEPI and Labor Minister Patricia Bullrich blamed the company's technicians and the aeronautic unions. Apparently unions rejected wage reductions and changes in working conditions as part of a plan to streamline the company that in 1991 was sold free of debts but now is deep in the red and loosing allegedly over a million dollars per day. SEPI officials in Madrid and in Buenos Aires said they are willing to recover the flag carrier with an injection of 350 million US dollars, conditioned to the acceptance of the streamlining steps. But the unions themselves are divided: some accept the conditions while 1,300 technicians out of a total staff of 6,700, are adamantly against them. If an agreement is reached, the Argentine government has promised to pay April salaries which amount to 16 million US dollars. "The technicians union irresponsible attitude places Aerolíneas in the verge of bankruptcy and closure, jeopardizing 7.000 jobs", remarked Minister Bullrich during the two days negotiations in Madrid. But Ricardo Cirelli, head of the rebel union, said that "SEPI does not guarantee that the company will not go bankrupt in the next months", adding that Aerolíneas is undergoing the same process that a Venezuelan airline sold to Iberia in early nineties. "They began selling Viasa' aircraft, transferring lines to Iberia, and finally sacked all the staff with no compensation and closed Viasa", stressed Mr. Cirelli.Aerolíneas unions have begun a campaign inviting Argentines to reject Spanish produce and services, even from Argentine purchased companies such as YPF.Minister Bullrich was summoned to Congress to inform about the Madrid talks, and some legislators, alleging corruption in the original 1991 privatisation of the company, want a full inquiry particularly the possibility of an intentional closure of Aerolíneas by its Spanish owners