12 Penalties Have Been Issued To Sunwing Party Plane Passengers & The Feds Aren't Done Yet

The federal government is cracking down on the passengers involved in the infamous Sunwing party plane flight, with officials handing out 12 penalties so far and promising that they're not done yet.

On Monday, March 21, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced that a new series of six penalties, each up to $5,000, had been issued to travellers on the December 30 flight to Cancun.

He confirmed that of those, five were related to non-compliance with COVID-19 vaccination requirements, while one was for not wearing a face-covering on the flight.

These penalties are in addition to another six that were handed out earlier this month, for reasons related to vaccination rather than the group's rowdy behaviour on board.

On Monday, Alghabra warned that "there are consequences for those who break the rules," later adding that there are more fines to come for those involved.

Sharing their own message, Transport Canada added, "These penalties could reach a maximum of $5,000 each. More are expected."

The fines have been issued in relation to the controversial Sunwing flight that departed Montreal for Cancun on December 30, 2021.

The privately-chartered flight was boarded by a number of Quebec-based social media influencers and was organized by James William Awad — owner of the members-only group 111Private Club.

Passengers on the plane were filmed smoking, drinking, dancing and flouting multiple public health measures, during the peak of the Omicron wave of COVID-19.

Those involved garnered more controversy afterwards as well, when some influencers were stranded in Mexico and Awad made unpopular comments about his critics and Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The behaviour of those involved was slammed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and was even referenced on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in the United States.