Argentina might be preparing to sell the state-owned carrier in a cost-cutting move towards privatization.
An Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737 (Photo: Shutterstock | claudio santisteban)
Aerolineas Argentinas could be preparing for a sale after it reduced 13% of its staff and cut domestic routes.
According to a Reuters report, the carrier’s cost cuts are part of an effort to bring private investment to the state-run airline and relieve government spending. The airline recorded its first profits for 2023 since it was nationalized in 2008, and it has cost the Argentinian government over $8 billion to cover its other years of operating losses.
In addition to reducing its workforce and route network, the carrier has also thinned its in-flight snack options, according to Reuters. The report stated that this move alone saved the carrier more than $500,000 a year.
A spokesperson for the carrier told Reuters that private investment delivered big operating results for Aerolineas Argentinas in 2024 – which also benefited from the staff reduction. The airline plans to release its financial results from 2024 next week.
In November 2024, Colombian airline Avianca – under its holding company Abra Group – expressed some interest in buying the ailing carrier.
Aba Group’s commercial chief, Joe Mohan, said in November that while the company is “interested” in a possible Aerolineas purchase, Abra is in “due diligence” to determine the next steps over a potential deal.
“So Aerolineas Argentinas has been bought and sold many times over a few decades,” Mohan said at Skift’s Aviation Forum in Dallas. “In fact, I did due diligence on that [at] one of my first jobs at Continental Airlines 25 years ago.”
“What is there to sell? We don’t really know,” he continued.
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