Partying Passengers Face Possible Criminal Charges

More than 100 Canadians, most of them social media “influencers,” could face criminal charges, huge fines and even jail time because of their in-flight partying on a chartered airliner just before New Year’s. Ironically, it was a YouTube video of the scene on the plane that led to the huge controversy in Canada and a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called the incident a “slap in the face” for other Canadians suffering through the Omicron wave of COVID-19. The video shows passengers on the flight, which was chartered through Sunwing Airlines, a Canadian vacation carrier, drinking, dancing and vaping in the cabin on their way from Montreal to Cancun, Mexico on Dec. 30.

The Sunwing crew apparently didn’t consider the in-flight behavior bad enough to warrant turning back or diverting and the plane continued to Cancun. There have been no allegations that any of the passengers were violent or ignored crew instructions. After the video controversy blew up, the airline announced that it had failed to reach an agreement with the organizer of the trip for the return flight and it didn’t send a plane to pick up the passengers. Air Canada and Air Transat, another Canadian vacation carrier, then announced they wouldn’t allow any of the party passengers on their aircraft either. 

Several federal government departments announced they were investigating the flight and cabinet ministers warned of potential consequences that include fines of $100,000 and jail terms. Two of the passengers were flight students who chronicle their experiences on social media and Transport Canada said it was reviewing their participation to see if it could affect their pilot certification chances. Others have been fired by their employers from high-profile jobs. Meanwhile, as of Friday, only 27 of more than 130 passengers had hopscotched back to Montreal using U.S. and Mexican carriers and all were met by government officials who administered COVID tests and who, in the words of the federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos, “interrogated” the passengers.