The unions of pilots and flight attendants of the Aeromar airline extended the outbreak of the strike –scheduled for this Tuesday, January 25– for next Wednesday, February 2, after accusing the company of owing 25 million pesos for different concepts.
The Trade Union Association of Pilots and Flight Attendants (ASSA) reported that an agreement was reached with Aeromar regarding the debts with the union, which amount to almost 16 million pesos. However, the summons to strike remains in case of breach of this payment.
“The ASSA of Mexico entered into a direct dialogue with the owner of the airline, exhausting the dialogue and agreement in favor of our colleagues, with the direct intervention of the STPS Conciliation Unit in charge of Luisa María Alcalde, resulting in a payment agreement of a fixed amount to settle the debts for different concepts accumulated during the year 2020 and 2021”, said Ricardo del Valle, secretary general of ASSA, quoted in a statement.
In addition, the Trade Union Association of Aviator Pilots (ASPA) of Mexico accused of a 10% salary reduction that has not been previously agreed and that, according to the union, Aeromar sought to take up to a 30% cut. In total, debts for more than 9 million pesos were indicated.
“ASPA pilots have been in the best position to negotiate. Only since the pandemic began, we have supported the company with more than 60 million pesos in salary reduction agreements and benefits, and if Aeromar continues to fly today, it is largely due to the contribution that, since 2017, its pilots have made ” José Humberto Gual Ángeles, general secretary of ASPA of Mexico, said in a statement.
Accusations of non-payment have been pointed out by Aeromar pilots and flight attendants since the beginning of last year. In March, ASSA and ASPA called for a first strike that was postponed to May, then to October, and later to January.
Even with the cut in salaries and benefits, Aeromar assured in recent months that it is seeking to close a capital injection of between 50 and 100 million dollars, as part of a growth plan that would seek to triple the fleet – going from 10 to 30 planes – in the next five years.
“The post-COVID recovery is making it possible to progressively bring in aircraft, one by one, that can be done with the operating cash of the business; however, we do not want to do it in small drops, but rather almost immediately, in one fell swoop,” Danilo Correa, general director of Aeromar, told the media in October.
