López Obrador, delayed by a commercial flight, says he will not use ‘a luxurious plane’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Mexico’s leftist president-elect has pledged to stick to his plan to get rid of the country’s presidential plane – despite finding himself stuck on the tarmac for three hours waiting for a commercial flight to take off.

In video footage posted online from onboard the delayed flight from Huatulco to Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would “die of shame” if he used “a luxurious plane in a country where there is so much poverty”.

“I’m not going to change my mind because of this,” he said of the delay, which was caused by heavy rain. “Any politician who acts arrogantly won’t last.”

López Obrador was using the low-cost airline VivaAerobús. He and other passengers spent three hours on the plane and were then moved back to the terminal to wait for a further hour before they could fly.

The 64-year-old, often known by his initials Amlo, convincingly won Mexico’s presidential election in July. He will take office for a six-year term in December.

On the campaign trail he pledged to sell the presidential plane and convert the presidential palace into an arts centre. He has also vowed to tackle corruption and apply austerity measures to the running of government.

The outgoing president, Enrique Peña Nieto, currently has the use of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which went into service two years ago after being ordered in 2012 by the then president, Felipe Calderón.

The aircraft cost $218m and was named after José María Morelos y Pavón, one of the leaders in the Mexican war of independence in the early 1800s. López Obrador has previously criticised the plane’s luxurious fittings, saying “not even Donald Trump has one like it”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mexico’s presidential plane, which the country’s president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, says he will ditch once he is in office. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The Mexican newspaper Reforma has reported that a businessman, Jimenez Pons, has offered López Obrador $99m for the plane, with a plan to rent it out to world leaders who do not currently have a private jet or to “rock groups like the Rolling Stones”.

Some people on social media have questioned whether it is right for López Obrador to risk delays on commercial flights when attending official functions once he is in office.

López Obrador has previously pledged to take a huge pay cut compared with his predecessor when he takes office. He is expected to earn 108,000 pesos a month (about £4,330), which would be 60% less than Peña Nieto.

• This article was amended on 21 September 2018. An earlier version said López Obrador will be president for a five-year term. This has been corrected