The president of Aerolineas Argentinas, Pablo Ceriani, stressed this Thursday that the flag line “it already has 20 percent of women in managerial positions”, with which it is very close to achieving the goal of the commitment signed in Doha, Qatar, during the 78th Annual Assembly of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), of having 25 percent of women in management positions by the year 2025 .
In a dialogue with Télam, Ceriani stated that “commitment to women has always been an objective of the company and they have been incorporated, both in management positions and in crews.”
“The managerial and director positions in charge of women went from 14 in March 2020 to 18 today, which implies an increase from 15 to 20% in that period,” the manager specified.
The head of Aerolineas Argentinas participated in the IATA Assemblywhich between Sunday and Tuesday brought together the most important industry leaders from among the 290 member airlines of the international entity, as well as the main government officials, strategic partners, equipment suppliers and the media.
in the meeting “sustainability” and “gender diversity” commitments were ratifiedby the participants.
We participated in the 78th Annual Assembly of @IATA where we meet with the different players in the industry worldwide to present and discuss the present and future of aviation. #IATAAGM pic.twitter.com/hdTHntMesc
– Pablo Ceriani (@ceriani_pablo) June 22, 2022
Ceriani also pointed out that “the airlines are putting all their efforts towards the non-emission of carbon gases, and, in this regard, Aerolineas Argentinas is working with its entire team to achieve sustainability on its flightsless emission, more fuel economy and lower costs”.
“It is for this reason that we are advancing in the renewal of the fleet, in an effort to have aircraft that emit less gases, consume less fuel and, therefore, cause less costs,” he remarked.
At that point, he specified: “We are replacing the Boeing 737-800 with the 737 Max, almost the same plane, but much more modern, economical and sustainable; we are analyzing the replacement of the Embraer 190 with the E2 model, which is also the same as the we have, but with many improvements, and in the same way we are studying the replacement of the widebody Airbus 330-200, by the 330 Neo”.
“Replacing aircraft that we already have -he said- for an equal model, but more modern, allows us to save costs because you don’t have to train the crew on a new model, you use the same parts and maintenance.”
Regarding the participation in the IATA Assembly and the Air Transport Meeting, he pointed out that it was “extremely positive and satisfactory” and detailed: “We had an intense activity, participating in meetings and maintaining contacts with manufacturers, Lessors (companies dedicated to aircraft rental) and with other airlines. It is always positive to participate in these meetings for all that the IATA Assembly means for the industry development”.
“During the deliberations, issues such as the recovery of the industry around the world, the negative effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine, variations in operating costs, were also analyzed,” Ceriani said.
Regarding the recovery of the industry, he pointed out that “we are on the right track” because It was possible “not only to recover routes and the number of passengers transported, compared to what happened before the pandemic, but in some cases we have exceeded those figures.”
“This long weekend we transported more than 300,000 passengers and the 10 best-selling destinations were Córdoba, Iguazú, Mendoza, Bariloche, Salta, Ushuaia, Tucumán, Neuquén, El Calafate and Comodoro Rivadavia, where more than 56% of passengers concentrated,” explained the manager.
He detailed that “Between last Thursday and Monday, June 20, there were more than 250 daily departures. throughout the flight network, while flight occupancy averaged 87% with peaks of 91% and full occupancy in the main destinations”.
“These numbers express the good moment that tourism is going through in the country, with a rapid recovery and a very promising future projection. This industry contributes billions of dollars to the GDP and, without a doubt, is a fundamental engine for the economic development,” Ceriani remarked.
He added that “There was also a great movement in terms of international flights, being those from Brazil, Uruguay and the United States, those that concentrated the largest number of passengers, with an occupation of the order of 83%”.
“This recovery is reflected in the company’s numbers and the proof is that the 2021 balance sheet showed us that we reduced the loss by 34% compared to 2019, with a negative result of 438 million dollars, which if compared to the 667 million of 2019, means a reduction of the loss of 229 million,” he analyzed.
He pointed out that “this meant that the contributions of the State were during 2021 of 65,796 million pesos, of which 35,180 million pesos returned to the State coffers as taxes and fees.”
“It is significant that the results of 2019, corresponding to the previous administration, are similar to those of 2020, the airline industry going through the biggest crisis in its history, when between March and December we had practically no operations beyond special flights” Ceriani said.
He insisted that “Even in 2019, with record loss levels but in a stable health and operating environment, the company contributed $3.5 billion to GDP in concept of Gross Airport Product, productivity and income from receptive and internal tourism”, with which he judged that “it is a fallacy to affirm that the company does not generate or contribute anything to economic development”.
“We are operating 100% on our domestic network and 62% on its international network. And we are working to improve these numbers,” Ceriani said.
