Unions are on a collision course with SEPI, the Spanish manager and majority owner of Aerolíneas Argentinas. SEPI has unveiled plans to cut eight domestic destinations served by Aerolíneas or its subsidiary, Austral Airlines, and to lay off 1,117 personnel, mostly relating to those route closures.
Three of the airline's seven unions, representing cabin crews, navigators, and technicians, have responded by declaring an alert - one step short of a strike. They have called urgent meetings with government officials, hoping to pressure the Spanish holding company into a retreat.
Their main complaint is that SEPI agreed last year not to resort to mandatory lay-offs. They also continue to argue that the best way to save the airline is to grow rather than shrink it. SEPI insists it has tried to reach the necessary staff reduction levels through a programme of voluntary layoffs.
But fewer than 200 employees have accepted that offer, and SEPI needs to cut staffing this year by nearly 1,300.ÊWithout voluntary reductions, SEPI claims it must take further steps to stop the airline's bleeding. Aerolíneas, which showed a $200 million operating loss last year with accumulated debts of $900 million, has 6,700 employees.
Now SEPI is losing patience with the unions. The pilots and three other unions have accepted its restructuring plan, but the hold-outs threaten to disrupt it at a time when the airline continues to lose $30 million every month. Aerolíneas continues flying only because SEPI covers that deficit.
SEPI's restructuring plan, launched last November, is already behind schedule because higher fuel costs have erased other savings.
Source: Airline Business
