Mexican army-run airline in the works, president confirms after documents hack; 11 planes including one unwanted presidential jet

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has confirmed a plan to have the military, already involved in tourism, run an airline

The carrier would fly 10 leased planes and the former presidential jet, which López Obrador refuses to use and has been trying to offload

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is considering a military-run state-owned airline. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:59pm, 5 Oct 2022Updated: 9:17am, 6 Oct 2022

Mexico’s president has said his government is considering the creation of a state-owned, army-run airline that would fly 10 leased planes as well as the former presidential jet.

The unusual plan would further boost the army’s increasing economic role in Mexico.

The proposal was mentioned in army documents obtained by the Guacamaya hackers group and on Tuesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed the plan was under consideration.

López Obrador has already placed the armed forces in charge of building trains and airports, running federal law enforcement and a host of other tasks, ranging from overseeing vaccine distribution to growing trees for forestry programmes.

The military-controlled airline could be called Mexicana after a defunct, partly state-owned carrier (above) that went into bankruptcy in 2010. Photo: Omar Torres/AFP

“An airline is being considered,” the president said, adding it could be named Mexicana after a defunct, partly state-owned carrier that went into bankruptcy in 2010, or “something to do with Mexico”.