Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to sell Mexico's presidential jet when he takes office in less than three weeks.
As part of a populist pledge of frugality and restaint that carried him to a landslide victory in July, López Obrador -- or AMLO that designates his initials -- is seeking a buyer for the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
"It's not just an efficient, modern plane -- it's a comfy plane, with a bedroom, a restaurant, with lots of space," López Obrader said of the jet.
He has promised to travel on commercial flights rather than using the luxury plane that cost $218 million two years ago and about $25 million to maintain each year.
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López Obrader, a 64-year-old leftist, plans to sell or lease the whole presidential fleet of planes and helicopters, and direct the funds to social programs when he replaces Enrique Peña Nieto on Dec. 1.
He has also promised to slash his own salary, limit other public officials' pay and elimnate perks of government employment.
López Obrador asked journalists at a news conference Friday in Mexico City to help him get the word out the plane is for sale to "every corner of the world."
"If you want to buy it, I'll deliver it myself," he said. "We'd have a ceremony. And you'd be traveling on a very important airplane.
"It's not just the cost of the plane, the value of the plane, the usefulness of the plane: It's the fame."
As a passenger plane, it could fit 280 people.
Before the county took ownership of the plane in 2016, officials said that a presidential plane is important for the safety of the president and for efficient transportation of the press corps.
