Sunwing Airlines ‘party flight’ organizer plans to sue airline

The organizer of a Sunwing Airlines flight to Cancun, Mexico, that became known as a “party flight” in the midst of the pandemic is seeking to sue the company for breach of contract.

Speaking at a Montreal press conference, James William Awad said that airlines “abandoned” 154 Canadians “without knowing if they could afford another night in a hotel, without knowing if they could afford food the next day, without any option to return to Canada”.

“Right now we’re working on taking legal action against Sunwing,” Awad said.

Unmasked passengers sing and dance in the aisle and on seats as some clutch bottles of liquor, snap selfies, and vape.

Video footage of the ill-fated December 30, 2021 charter flight from Montreal to Cancun circulated online showing Awad’s group, which was comprised of influencers and reality television personalities.

The group’s return trip was then canceled by Sunwing, citing an ongoing inquiry and the passengers’ failure to accept the terms of the charter flight.

The group agreed on all but one condition, according to Awad’s official statement: Sunwing would not provide any in-flight meals on their return flight.

“It’s a five-hour flight, they don’t want to feed my group. It poses no concerns for flight safety,” Awad said.

Air Canada (ADH2) and Air Transat, among the other major Canadian carriers, declined to fly the group back to Mexico from Cancun.

Sunwing and all other Canadian airlines, according to Awad, had no right to leave the group stuck in Mexico for days after their scheduled return to Quebec.

According to Awad, several of the group were eventually forced to take long and roundabout journeys back to Canada via the United States and Panama.

“We’re working on taking legal action against Sunwing and we may be proceeding against Air Canada (ADH2) as well,” he said.

Awad did not elaborate on why the group planned to sue Air Canada (ADH2).