- Around 100 party-goers who threw a rowdy New Year’s party on a plane now can’t find a flight home.
- Airlines are refusing to accommodate them after videos of their maskless celebration surfaced.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the party-goers “idiots” and said an investigation is underway.
A group of passengers who danced, drank, and vaped while maskless on a Canadian charter flight are now stuck in Cancun, Mexico, after multiple airlines denied them flights home, according to the party organizer.
Authorities were shocked this week by videos of the party-goers dancing in the aisle, downing vodka, and blowing e-cigarette smoke into the camera on a December 30 flight from Montreal, after the clips were revealed on Thursday by Journal de Montreal‘s Francis Pilon.
The 100 passengers — several of whom are reality TV stars or social media influencers — became so rowdy that flight attendants tried to avoid the cabin as much as possible, Pilon reported.
The event’s organizer, James William Awad, said their return trip was canceled by Sunwing, the airline that flew them to Cancun.
Ce qui devait arriver arriva.
— Francis Pilon (@FrancisPilon_) January 4, 2022
Sunwing aurait décidé d’annuler le vol qui devait ramener une centaine de Québécois demain soir à Montréal, au lendemain d’images-chocs publiées par le Journal où des influenceurs faisaient le party.
Autre vidéo de la fête 🎥 pic.twitter.com/A7ZnTaThtI
Other airlines, such as Air Canada and Air Transat, also declined to take them back to Montreal, citing safety issues for their crew and other passengers, CNN reported.
Awad said in a statement on Thursday that he spoke with Sunwing, but that they “couldn’t conclude on an agreement” because the airline wouldn’t serve the passengers meals on their five-hour flight home.
Sunwing listed conditions for the party-goers’ return flight, requiring them to be sober while on-board, to remain seated unless using the bathroom, and to allow security staff to fly with them at Awad’s expense, he said.
The organizer said he agreed to these conditions, except for the lack of meals on the flight. Sunwing and Awad did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
The trip by his organization, 111 Private Club, a self-described “exclusive private group (by invitation only),” was Awad’s first-ever travel event, he said. According to him, everyone on the plane had been tested for COVID-19 before boarding the plane to Cancun.
“I have significantly learned, and I am still learning from this experience. Learning from them is what makes the difference,” he said.
But the party plane’s blatant disregard for Montreal’s pandemic rules has already summoned the fury of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called the party-goers “idiots” and said the videos were “a slap in the face,” per The Associated Press. He pledged a full investigation into the event by Transport Canada.
Those found in violation of the transport department’s rules will face fines of up to $3,938 for every infraction, per The AP.
One passenger, a real estate broker, was suspended from his job after he was filmed with a loudspeaker in his hand while partying in the skies, Pilon reported.
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Source: Insider
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