Members of the State Workers' Association (ATE) at the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) have confirmed the strike measures set to begin tomorrow and last until next Tuesday, March 24th. This will cause delays and flight cancellations, particularly during the upcoming long weekend. In this way, the union is deepening its struggle plan, with the goal of reaching a wage agreement with the Government, a situation that has kept the agency on alert and mobilized its employees. The actions will take place between Wednesday, March 18th, and Tuesday, March 24th, inclusive, precisely during the upcoming long weekend, which will affect tourism. On these dates, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., there will only be attention for humanitarian, sanitary, and official flights. In contrast, at other times, services will operate normally. The national coordinator of ATE-ANAC, Marcelo Belelli, warned the Argentine News Agency that the protests are “legitimate union action measures that respect the imposition of essentiality applied in the aviation sector as established by labor reform.” He also indicated that “the call is due to the lack of proposals in the face of the salary cut we suffered in January and February, given that the agreements we had with the previous Secretariat of Transport have not been paid.” He stated that there has been “no” response to the demands from the authorities, although he reiterated that they have always “openly” manifested their position “open to dialogue,” although he clarified that “so far we have not been summoned.” The planned scheme of double daily shifts for seven consecutive days poses a formidable logistical challenge for airlines, especially those operating domestic routes to the country's interior, where contingency response infrastructure is often more limited than in the central nodes of the metropolitan region. However, the effectiveness of the strike could be relative, considering that just a few weeks ago, the personnel grouped in the state workers' union performed functions vital to the daily movement of aircraft on the platform. With the entry into force of the new regulation issued by the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), these operational tasks were transferred directly to airport operators, aligning the Argentine system with the international recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Under this new scheme, the function of ATE/ANAC workers has been reduced or, better said, refocused towards supervision, regulation, and control, leaving the daily execution of the platform in the hands of airport administrators. This displacement of functions has generated an asymmetry in the capacity for damage that the union can exert on the flight flow, as many of the tasks that could once paralyze an airport are now carried out by personnel not under its representation sphere. Nevertheless, there is a critical link that remains under the control of the workers represented by the union: the handling and operation of fire trucks. This service is the heart of the operational safety of any airport; without the guaranteed presence of fire-fighting and rescue equipment, no aircraft can take off or land under international safety standards. This is where the greatest concern and, at the same time, the greatest doubt of the industry lies. Although the union has the power to withdraw the service as part of its measure of force, doing so would imply crossing a highly sensitive legal and ethical boundary, as it would put the safety of ongoing operations at risk. Sources in the sector have expressed cautious distrust that the union will go to that extreme, but they warn that even a minimal delay in the availability of these equipment during the announced time windows could force aircraft commanders and airport managers to declare the terminal as non-operational, triggering the domino effect of cancellations that the country fears. For the passenger who plans to travel this week, the uncertainty is absolute, as they face a situation where official information is scarce and union information promises a disruption that the system, as a whole, tries to minimize through the new structure of responsibilities. Nevertheless, it is essential to carefully observe what will happen in the country's interior airports. Unlike the large terminals such as Ministro Pistarini International Airport or Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, where the density of personnel and the multiplicity of providers allow for greater maneuverability, provincial aerodromes often depend on leaner structures and a more concentrated presence of state personnel. In conclusion, what will begin tomorrow Wednesday is not just a week of possible delays at airports, but a stress test for the new civil aviation model that Argentina has decided to adopt in this 2026.
