“He’s going to have to kill us”: the warning of the main aeronautical unionist to Milei for the future of Aerolineas

Pablo Biró, secretary general of the Association of Airline Pilots (APLA), today issued a strong warning to President-elect Javier Milei, who after triumphing in last Sunday’s runoff ratified his plan to privatize Aerolíneas Argentinas (AA). If they want to load Aerolíneas Argentinas, they are going to have to kill us and when I say kill, it means literally: they are going to have to carry dead,” the union member warned. “Let him sign me up first, and if he wants to get us into trouble and abolish the right to strike, to detain us, to persecute us, to govern us by decree, it will be [el expresidente de Perú, Alberto] Fujimori and he will end up in jail,” he added. The proposal for the flag carrier to be taken into private hands is part of Milei’s plan to privatize several companies that are now run by the state. Also on this spectrum are Radio and Television Argentina (RTA), the news agency Télam and YPF. His program has already provoked a reaction from state unions.” I appeal for prudence because everyone knows who I am, where I come from and what we aeronautical unions have the capacity to do, I don’t need to say it. And we are going to do it in defense of our interests and the national interests,” Biró concluded.Before the strong warning he made, the trade unionist had relativized during the interview he gave to Nacional Rock the possibility that the company will finally be privatized. “They are titles, there are no definitions. We have to wait for the authorities of the sector to define and then they will tell us what is the commercial aviation policy that they intend to carry out. If you are willing to listen to our vision, we will give it to you. But I ratify it: for us, the commercial aviation policy is a strategic development tool that generates direct and indirect jobs derived, and the AA numbers showed that in 2022, the flag airline impacts about 700 thousand dollars per hour to the GDP, 16.5 million dollars per day,” he said. In that sense, he added that the company has a “qualified” technical staff and standards “of the highest” in the commercial airline industry. If there is a dialogue table and they want to discuss, we have arguments to discuss because the workers have already shown that a public company can generate wealth,” he said. He also pointed out that if the libertarian fulfills his promise to cut taxes and takes “some” from Aerolíneas Argentinas, the company “is in surplus immediately.” “It contributes more than double what the state provides for its operation.” Analyzing the economist’s victory, which beat former Union for the Homeland presidential candidate Sergio Massa by more than ten percentage points, he said that “party politics as we know it has left a lot of unfinished business.” “The people expressed a weariness of the lack of solutions,” he observed. And he pointed out: “Milei is where he is because we had a government where the president and vice president did not speak to each other for three years. After Chocolate [Rigau], the yacht [en alusión al caso que involucra a Martín Insaurralde] and everything, don’t come and tell me that Milei can’t govern.” Finally, he assured that they will give the corresponding discussions “with great prudence” and guaranteed their presence at the dialogue tables for the direction that the company will adopt as of December 10. But he insisted: “If they want to blow it up to give the business to Macri’s friends, let them say so. And that’s where you’re going to find us, at all the airports. If they want a country that’s disconnected, they’re going to have it.”

Original source in Spanish