FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1986
1986 - 1645.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Argentine airlines face reorganisation BUENOS AIRES Argentina's flag carrier, Aero- lineas Argentinas, has dismissed all 561 of its pilots after they went on indefinite strike on July 1. The strike has left the airline's inter national and national services totally paralysed, two 747s stranded in Los Angeles and Madrid, and the company's future in grave doubt. The action followed 18 months of disputes and nego tiations over pay. "We have arrived at the point where the pilots are just not interested in working any longer under the present conditions," said Capt Oscar Marshall, trea surer and spokesman for the pilots' union Apia. The issue at stake is the disparity in salary scales between Aerolineas Argen tinas (AA) and Austral, the state-owned domestic carrier. AA pilots say the less experi enced Austral pilots earn 20 to 30 per cent higher salaries. AA salaries are well below those paid by other major inter national airlines, they say. Take home pay of a 747 pilot with 30 years flying experi ence is just over $1,200 per month. In May this year an arbi trator apparently ruled in the pilots' favour, recommending a pay scale similar to Austral's as the basis for further nego tiation. Two hours before the ruling was to be made public, however, the arbitrator's deci sion was overruled by the Labour Ministry. Flight was shown documents obtained by Apia which clearly indicated ministerial disapproval of any new pay scale being linked to that of Austral. Aerolineas Argentinas ended a dispute with mainte nance workers last month by offering a new salary scale, to be negotiated over 90 days. A similar offer was rejected by the pilots. "The company made no concrete proposals which would provide a basis for negotiation," said Capt Marshall. It has started advertising for new pilots but, given the existing pay scales and the International Pilots Feder ation's promise to boycott the airline, there seems to be little prospect of AA being able to FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 19 July 1986 Aerolineas Argentinas pilots suspect that the Government may sell off some of the airline's fleet and reduce its domestic services obtain a sufficient number of qualified pilots for it to return to normal services in the short term. Other political factors are thought to lie behind the dispute. The Government recently made commitments to the International Mone tary Fund (IMF) to restrict spending (and thus salaries) and to accelerate its plans to privatise a number of state enterprises. Austral is one of the most likely candidates for early privatisation. But industry experts say interest in the company will be slight unless it can win a greater share of the domestic market which is dominated by Aero lineas. AA pilots suspect that the Government is intending to use the pilots' dispute as an excuse to restructure both Aerolineas and Austral. It might sell off part of AA's 30-strong, mainly Boeing, fleet and reduce its domestic services. Austral may be privatised and its ageing fleet of DC-9s and BAe One- Elevens expanded with the incentive of more domestic traffic. Behind-the-scenes efforts to rationalise AA are imper ative. Losses from the dispute are running at over $500,000 a day, throwing budget plans off course and adding to the company's already onerous $800 million debt. AA was expected to make a modest operating profit this year but this hope is fading. Aerolineas' management would not comment on the carrier's plans while the dispute was running. But recent Government assent to major pay increases in the powerful metalworkers' and construction workers' unions suggests that the hard line taken by Aerolineas with its pilots involves broader indus trial issues and Government debt commitments rather than simply pay. New cargo airline to fly HK-Sydney HONG KONG ~~~ The first all-cargo flights between Hong Kong and Sydney should start by September, if a newly formed Australian-backed carrier succeeds in winning a licence, reports Phillip Bangsberg. Transcorp Airways (Hong Kong) is majority owned by Ansett Transport Industries via the TNT conglomerate, with backing from media magnate Rupert Murdoch. Ansett put up HK$39 million (US$5 million) and Hong Kong investors supplied the rest. Transcorp has already used its 707-330C for one charter flight, bringing a consignment of gold from Europe to Hong Kong on behalf of Cathay Pacific, which did not feel it could economically use a widebody to carry it. Transcorp's aircraft, acquired from Lufthansa for US$1 • 3 million, is now being hushkitted in the USA in anticipation of more string ent Hong Kong noise regul ations. Assuming it is permitted to fly, Transcorp intends to "operate in a supplementary role and complement existing services on major routes", chairman Anthony Manzi says. It does not intend to compete with Cathay or Hong Kong Dragon Airlines. Cathay has opposed a number of Dragonair applica tions for regional passenger and cargo flights. A Cathay spokesman said that he was not aware of any immediate concern about Transcorp. The Hong Kong carrier does not operate a direct Hong Kong-Australia cargo flight, although it does have a joint service with Lufthansa and Qantas from Frankfurt via Melbourne, Transcorp plans to operate a proving flight to Manila next month, with regular cargo services between Hong Kong and Sydney—both direct and via Singapore—to follow. "We have to develop export markets. As those markets grow, we will grow with them," Manzi said. "It is surprising that although the route from Hong Kong to Sydney has been short of cargo capacity for years, nobody has seen fit to intro duce such a service." Some industry executives question the prospects for the proposed service, saying that while there is an occasional backlog of freight, much of it is seasonal. Manzi forecasts that the route will generate income of about HK$1 million a year. With that bread- and-butter service estab lished, he hopes to extend into China and Indochina. This would require further licensing, and some author ities may hold out for recip rocal rights.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
