The organiser of a wild influencer party flight has apologised after flouting Covid rules, and is now begging airlines to help them get home.
The founder of the 111 Private Club, James Awad, arranged the party trip from Montreal to Mexico and chartered a plane with the company Sunwing on December 30.
After footage of the influencers drinking, vaping, partying and singing without masks exploded on social media, Sunwing decided to cancel the January 5th flight to take all the passengers home.
Image from inside the party plane that went viral.
Instagram, Nathaniel Olivanaud
Mr Awad is now begging other airlines to take them all as a group and is now promising that they will wear their masks, obey Covid procedure and behave appropriately.
Mr Awad said in a statement: "At this time, the 111 private club is working tirelessly to get everyone back home safely as quickly as we can.
"The 111 private club is a dream and a vision that I poured my heart and soul into creating. This was my first travel event. I have significantly learned, and I am still learning from this experience. Learning from them is what makes the difference."
Mr Awad said he understood why people were so angry with the videos, at a time when Omicron has COVID cases soaring.
The group even infuriated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said: 'Like all Canadians who've seen those videos, I'm extremely frustrated.
"We know how hard people have worked to keep themselves safe, to limit their family gatherings at Christmastime, to wear masks, to get vaccinated, to do all the right things.
"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".
In a joint statement, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino called the behaviour unacceptable and said passengers who broke federal travel regulations could face $5,000 fines per offence.
