The President Traveling 11 Hours in Economy Class... Why He Didn't Use the Private Jet

Mexico's Female President Flies Economy Class for 11 Hours
Following Precedent Set by Former President Lopez Obrador
Using Commercial Flights Becomes Customary

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum used a commercial flight to attend the G20 summit.
[Photo by President Sheinbaum's Instagram]

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's first female president, used a commercial flight instead of a private jet for her first overseas summit attendance.

On the 17th (local time), President Sheinbaum, Mexico's first female president, departed from Mexico City Benito Juarez International Airport (AICM) to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the Group of Twenty (G20) summit is being held. On that day, she boarded an economy class seat on a regular passenger plane.

Photos posted on President Sheinbaum's social media showed her being welcomed by citizens at the airport and greeting the captain and flight attendants inside the aircraft cabin. Seated in economy class, she spent the flight reading a book and exchanged eye contact with other passengers. She wrote on her Instagram, "Arrived after a long flight of over 11 hours," adding, "Tomorrow we will attend the G20 summit."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum used a commercial flight to attend the G20 summit. Photo by President Sheinbaum's Instagram

For the Mexican people, it is not surprising to see the president boarding a commercial flight alongside citizens. This is because the former president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, sold the presidential plane to "reduce excessive spending" and used regular passenger flights for domestic and international trips. Since then, it has become customary in Mexico for the president to fly on commercial airlines.

President Sheinbaum, Mexico's first female president in a strongly male-dominated "macho society," is a scientist who earned her master's and doctoral degrees in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She served as the environment minister under the Obrador administration in 2000, later participated as a founding member of the current ruling party, MORENA, in 2011, and served as Mexico City's first female mayor in 2018.