I have been accused of being sycophantic and very pro Argentine, so this may suprise you, but I think Aerolineas never has had much regard for their customers. I have used them since 2004 mainly because they were the cheapest, but having seen how they treated some of their passengers during this time, last year I finally decided never to use them again.
I saw one Indian couple who were on a weekend to Madrid (from UK) who they allowed to check in and then told them the flight was delayed twelve hours, and "no" they could not have their luggage back.
On the same flight was a group of school pupils, one of whome had been killed on the roads of BsAs, left in departures for twelve hours with no hope of catching their connecting flight afterwards.
The total mess that was this flight would take too long to describe here, but my letter to Aerolineas was met with a polite HARD LUCK, but please use this number if you want to fly again.
So I am not really suprised that customers are rioting, only suprised it has not happened sooner.