A pilot refused to take off and barricaded himself in the cockpit of a plane in Mexico City on Friday, staging what he said was a protest over unpaid wages, local media reported.
“This plane isn’t leaving
until they pay us what they owe us,” the pilot told dozens of passengers onboard the commercial flight, according to a video cited by local media, including Reforma newspaper.
The pilot said he was owed five months’ salary and travel expenses by his employer.
A captain from the Mexican airline MagniCharters kept today’s flight grounded at the Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez CDMX due to the airline’s 5-month debt for per diem allowances.
In the video, the pilot, who had a scheduled flight to Cancún, is seen explaining that the… pic.twitter.com/oPDUHmBtWs
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) December 20, 2025
However, the video going viral on social media could not be independently verified.
“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 International Airport posted on X that civil aviation authorities were investigating an “incident” at around 3:00 pm (2100 GMT) on a scheduled flight to the Caribbean resort city Cancun in southeastern Mexico.
As per the Mexican media reports, the captain was detained, while the passengers were evacuated.
