Strike at Argentina's flagship airline hits 30,000 passengers / Photo: Luis ROBAYO - AFP/File
-
CAF chief Motsepe backs Infantino despite criticism
-
Oil prices jump on Mideast war, stock markets diverge
-
Evacuees from Spain's wildfire struggle with scale of devastation
-
US hits Iranian island, says war cost at $37.5 bn
-
Ancient Lebanese city of Tyre added to heritage danger list
-
Metal mining's carbon footprint far larger than thought: study
-
Extreme heatwave grips Tunisia as wide power cuts fuel frustration
-
TokenInsight Q2 2026 Report: TradFi Momentum Lifts MEXC to No. 2 in Commodity Perpetuals
-
'Beautiful game' provides Venezuelans with welcome distraction in wake of tragedy
-
Leonardo chief sees potential for Germany to join GCAP fighter jet project
-
Oil prices surge on Mideast war, stock markets diverge
-
Louvre heist gallery reopens to public, but with nothing to steal
-
Fury says 'best yet to come' ahead of Thailand fight
-
Ukraine's new army chief: who is Mykhailo Drapaty?
-
Japan suffers heat 'disaster as cities hit by 'cruelly hot' days
-
India student protests keep up pressure on Modi government
-
In Kazakhstan, emptying villages and overcrowded cities
-
Italian FA chief says in touch with Guardiola over coaching vacancy
-
Hitler's Austrian birthplace transformed into police station
-
Cooler inflation hands new UK PM Burnham an early boost
-
Mideast conflict lifts Brent back above $94, stocks give up gains
-
Bezos holds talks with group interested in buying Liverpool stake: reports
-
Greece broils on year's warmest day as three-day heatwave peaks
-
The student movement in India challenging Modi's government
-
Japan cities 'cruelly hot' for first time
-
Danish fish fossil cliffs set to gain UNESCO status
-
Lithuania moves Red Army graves to leave behind Soviet past
-
In Bulgarian mountains, local doctor still on call at 90
-
OpenAI reports 'unprecedented' autonomous hack by AI agents
-
Australia protests China's 'destabilising' missile test
-
India opposition leader released after protest detention
-
Sydney court dismisses defamation case against film star Rebel Wilson
-
Australia cricket great Warner pleads guilty to drink-driving
-
US tariffs on Brazil take effect as Trump readies fresh flurry
-
US hits Iran, says war cost at $37.5 bn
-
Death toll rises to 13 in Chile's severe storms
-
Tech lifts Asia stocks, Brent crude back above $92
-
24 hours in a Ukrainian hospital, buckling under the toll of war
-
Hitler's Austrian birthplace to become a police station
-
India's domestic workers go online as instant services boom
-
Decomposed body in singer D4vd's car was 'unrecognizable,' court hears
-
From bath to fish market: DJs play to revive Japan neighbourhoods
-
A once wary Hollywood slowly warms to AI
-
Nearly 3,000-year-old human remains unearthed in El Salvador
-
Designing a Tour de France route: a three-year labour of love
-
New Zealand may miss climate targets due to government policies: report
-
Chelsea sign Rogers from Villa for reported UK record fee
-
Hormuz, Malacca and other key straits spawn tensions throughout history
-
'The Dink' sees comedy in US pickleball craze
-
U.S. Polo Assn. Sponsors the 2026 St. Regis British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup as Official Apparel Partner
Strike at Argentina's flagship airline hits 30,000 passengers
A strike by pilots and crew demanding salary increases in inflation-hit Argentina affected more than 30,000 passengers on Friday, according to the Aerolineas Argentinas airline and unions.
As workers walked off the job for the second time this month, President Javier Milei was preparing to sign a decree declaring the aviation sector an "essential service" to guarantee a minimum level of service during such strikes, his spokesman said.
The 24-hour strike led to the cancellation of 319 flights, mainly impacting domestic and regional travelers, but also hundreds of passengers heading to the United States and Europe.
Costa Rican engineer Alex Rodriguez, 53, was stranded while on his way to visit one of South America's top tourist attractions, the breathtaking Iguazu Falls on the border between Argentina and Brazil.
"We had planned the holiday a long time ago, about three months ago. We came from very far away, it was expensive and then everything fell through," he told AFP.
The general secretary of the Association of Aeronautical Personnel (APA), Juan Pablo Brey, said the purchasing power of aviation staff had fallen 40 percent since Milei took office in December.
Since taking office in December, Milei has applied a drastic austerity program in a bid to rein in chronic inflation and decades of government overspending.
However, annual inflation still stands at 236.7 percent and the economic slowdown sparked by the budget cuts has hit Argentines' pockets hard.
Brey told a local radio station that cabin crew earned 729,000 pesos ($730 at the official exchange rate) and ground crew members 500,000 pesos -- half what they could make at some low-cost companies.
Aerolineas Argentinas said the strike was "untimely, abusive and out of context, promoted by union leaders in an irresponsible manner."
Milei's spokesman Manuel Adorni said that those striking would be "fined and sanctioned."
Milei had tried to privatize Aerolineas Argentinas as part of his sweeping economic reforms, but was forced to remove the company from the list of those to be privatized to get his measures through parliament earlier this year.
B.AbuZeid--SF-PST