Canada’s transportation authority has laid more fines against passengers on the infamous Sunwing flight from Montreal to Cancun last December that made international headlines and was butt of a late-night talk show joke.
Transport Canada said its ongoing investigation has resulted in six more passengers being fined “who were not fully vaccinated for their flight or who did not wear a mask on board.”
“These penalties could reach a maximum of $5,000 each. More are expected,” the regulator said in a tweet on Monday.
That brings the total number of fines to 12 since the investigation started in early January. Around that time when the Omicron variant was surging, videos surfaced on social media showing social media influencers and Quebec celebrities on the plane not wearing masks, partying in the aisle, and openly drinking alcohol. At least one passenger filmed herself smoking an e-cigarette during the flight.
The notorious flight posed a real danger, according to aviation experts. The organizer of the trip, James William Awad, accused Sunwing of allowing the partying to happen and said the crew supplied the passengers with the alcohol they were drinking.
The Transport Canada fines are in addition to the alleged infractions cited by Health Canada, which referred them to Quebec’s prosecutor for review. Those cases were not in relation to activity on the plane, rather they were related to potential violations of COVID-19 rules around quarantine, testing and other travel restrictions.
