Investigation into Sunwing party flight is continuing, Transport Canada says

Passengers have not faced legal penalties for their behaviour aboard a now-notorious chartered Sunwing flight to Mexico last month, the trip’s Montreal-based organizer says – despite widely shared video footage that showed people on the plane dancing on seats and drinking in crowded aisles while the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was spreading rapidly around the world.

“Nobody faced fines, nobody faced jail time,” James William Awad, who organized the trip through his company 111 Private Club, told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

Transport Canada said Thursday that its investigation into the group’s conduct is continuing, and the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed it has issued 18 notices of noncompliance under the Quarantine Act to passengers who were on the flight.

In five of those cases, reports have been forwarded to Quebec’s prosecution service for review.

The notices “are issued on-the-spot to signal obvious noncompliance with a requirement,” PHAC said in an e-mailed statement Thursday, adding that the agency is also following up on what it called “suspected fraudulent cases and non respect of quarantine.”

Reached over social media by The Globe and Mail Thursday, Mr. Awad said the information from PHAC was news to him.

“I wasn’t aware, I think it’s still under investigation. We’ll see what happens in the end,” he wrote, adding a smiley face symbol.

Transport Canada has said passengers could, under the Aeronautics Act, each be liable for fines of up to $100,000 for unruly or dangerous behaviour aboard an aircraft, and that they could be jailed for up to five years. Under Ottawa’s separate Interim Order Respecting Certain Requirements for Civil Aviation Due to COVID-19, passengers can be fined up to $5,000 each, and airlines or corporations can face fines of up to $25,000.

“We will take the time necessary to conduct a thorough and complete investigation,” Transport Canada said Thursday.

The Dec. 30 flight made headlines after video footage from the plane began circulating on social media in early January, amid surging COVID-19 case numbers.

Unmasked passengers were seen dancing on seats and crowding in aisles. Open bottles of alcohol were shown being passed around, and one woman could be seen blowing e-cigarette vapour at the camera.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – whose government had urged Canadians to avoid non-essential travel – called the passengers “idiots.”

Mr. Awad said he respects the Prime Minister, but that he does not regret planning the trip, because his intentions were good.

He criticized Sunwing and said he plans to sue the airline for cancelling the group’s return flight and leaving them stranded.

Sunwing, he said, along with Air Canada and Air Transat, should be “ashamed” of themselves for refusing to fly his group back to Canada without knowing whether the passengers could afford to keep paying for hotels and food.

All 154 passengers have since made it back, Mr. Awad said, but some were required to extend their stays or book connecting flights through Panama or the United States.

“They decided to abandon everybody because of a single article in the news,” he said at the news conference.

Sunwing did not respond to requests for comment.