'This Plane Isn't Leaving Until...': Mexico Pilot Refuses To Take Off Over Unpaid Wages

Last Updated:December 20, 2025, 20:09 IST

The pilot claimed that he was owed five months' salary and travel expenses by his employer.

AI-generated image for reprsentative image.

A pilot staged a protest in Mexico City on Friday by refusing to take off and barricading himself in the cockpit of a commercial flight, citing unpaid wages, according to local media.

A report by AFP cited a video where the pilot was recorded as saying, “This plane isn’t leaving until they pay us what they owe us." He claimed that he was owed five months’ salary and travel expenses by his employer.

As per the local reports, the incident involved a captain from the Mexican airline MagniCharters, who grounded a scheduled flight to Cancún at the Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez CDMX due to the airline’s debt for per diem allowances.

However, the video going viral on social media could not be independently verified.

In the video, the pilot is seen explaining his situation to passengers, expressing sympathy for them and highlighting his three-year tenure with the airline.

“I feel bad for you, because you don’t deserve this. I’ve been with the airline for almost three years, and I’ve never failed to complete a flight," he told passengers in the video, adding that he was the father of three children.

Officials at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport posted on social media platform X that civil aviation authorities were investigating an “incident" around 3:00 pm (2100 GMT) on the scheduled flight to the Caribbean resort city of Cancún in southeastern Mexico.

As per the Mexican media reports, the captain was detained, while the passengers were evacuated.

News world 'This Plane Isn't Leaving Until...': Mexico Pilot Refuses To Take Off Over Unpaid Wages

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