Simple Flying readers may recall the now infamous Sunwing Cancun party flight in late December. A planeload of reality TV types and on-the-make influencers boarded a chartered flight on the low-cost airline on December 30 for a New Year's Eve knees-up in Cancun. It all went wrong when footage emerged of some passengers creating havoc on the flight. In the fallout, the bad behavior incurred the wrath of the Canadian Government who've been busy handing out penalty notices ever since.

Transport Canada starts handing out penalty notices for Sunwing party flight

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports Transport Canada has handed out a further six penalty notices, taking the total number of penalty notices issued to 12. A penalty notice is a fine. While not specifying how much each of the dozen passengers were fined, Transport Canada says penalties can reach a maximum of CA$5,000 each (US$3,970).

"There are consequences for those who break the rules! We have issued a new series of 6 penalties, up to $5,000, to travelers on the Dec 30 flight to Cancun. 5 penalties for non-compliance w/ vaccination rules & 1 penalty for not wearing a mask. 12 penalties so far. More to come!," tweeted Canada's Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.

Given there were 154 passengers on the flight, it's taken nearly three months to fine less than 10% of the passengers. So you might hope there was more to come. Mr Alghabra says Transport Canada was quick to launch an investigation once news of the inflight melee broke and that the investigation is ongoing. Transport Canada knows not every passenger was misbehaving inflight.

Dimwitted influencers post images of their bad inflight behavior online

Most people, if they break the law, are cluey enough to do so discreetly. Not so our dimwitted reality TV stars and influencers. Several of them posted images and clips online showing them vaping, dancing, drinking their own alcohol, and ignoring inflight mask rules. The behavior got so out of hand, Sunwing flight attendants had to retreat to the rear galley to sit out the four-hour-plus flight south.

"Aviation rules must be respected by everyone, for the sake of everyone’s safety," said the Minister. "Transport Canada will continue to investigate and issue all necessary penalties.”

When images of the party flight emerged in the media, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was quick to call out the misbehavior. "It's a slap in the face to see people putting themselves, putting their fellow citizens, putting airline workers at risk by being completely irresponsible," he said.

Not all passengers were behaving badly

Long-suffering Canadians probably got some joy reading Sunwing canceled the return flight to Montreal scheduled to fly on January 5. Several other airlines (including Air Canada and Air Transat) also refused to carry those on the passenger list. Event organizer James William Awad said the Sunwing charter was his first travel event and a significant learning experience.

As the party-goers managed to trickle home to Canada over the following week or two, Canadian officials took them in for questioning after they flew in. At least one of the returning passengers tested positive for COVID-19.

Not everyone on the plane acted up. In the wash-up, Mr Awad said only about 20 passengers were behaving badly. Perhaps that explains why the Transport Canada investigation is proceeding slowly. However, Omar Alghabra appears determined to make sure every one of the miscreants pays.