Canadian party flight probed for drinking, vaping amid COVID

January 5, 2022

A booze-fueled charter flight out of Canada has sparked an official investigation after a wild video circulated of the selfie-obsessed passengers flouting aviation and coronavirus regulations.

The footage shows an unruly, unmasked group on a Sunwing Airlines charter flight from Montreal to Cancun on Dec. 30, dancing in the aisles, vaping, using the public address system and posing for selfies with a bottle of Grey Goose vodka.

Through it all, the group of alleged social media influencers can be seen posing as they snap cellphone pictures and footage of themselves partying.

Canada’s minister of transport said Tuesday on Twitter he was aware of the reports of “unacceptable” behavior on the flight and COVID-19 risks must be taken seriously.

“The health and safety of on-board personnel as well as passengers during a flight is a top priority,” Minister Omar Alghabra said. “Passengers on Sunwing’s flight to Cancun will be held accountable for their actions.”

A viral video on Twitter shows a group of Canadian passengers blatantly violating COVID-19 airline rules on a flight to Cancun, Mexico. — Flight attendants reportedly gave up on enforcing COVID-19 protocols, according to local reports.

Some of the passengers are known for appearing on reality television shows in Canada, the Toronto Star reported.

Things got so out of hand on the flight that flight attendants fled from the club-like cabin for much of the flight, the French-language publication Journal de Montreal reported.

“There’s a point where if you lose the control, you can’t get it back sometimes,” Rena Kisfalvi, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, a union that represents Sunwing flight attendants, told the Star.

Sunwing canceled the group’s return flight to Canada scheduled for Wednesday. The airline has also launched an internal investigation, the news agency said.

The passengers could face fines up to $5,000 for each individual offense if they’re found to have broken any regulations. If anyone is found to be noncompliant when returning to Canada, they could be referred to the country’s Public Health Agency and face fines and criminal charges for providing false information, a news release said.

The government continues to advise residents of Canada to avoid non-essential travel out of the country, the release added.