The prohibitive cost of an unplanned landing prompted Sunwing to end its aircraft’s flight to Cancun on December 30, even though the crew had lost control of the passengers, according to the company founder and chairman of the company. board of directors.
“I wasn’t involved in discussing this decision with the captain, but when you think about it, landing a plane is very expensive,” says Colin Hunter, chairman of the board of the Sunwing Travel Group, which owns the airline. same name (Sunwing Airlines). And we never get reimbursed by anyone. ”
He adds that the company has already prosecuted passengers responsible for an “unplanned stop”, without success.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, PRESS ARCHIVES
Colin Hunter, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sunwing Travel Group, which owns Sunwing Airlines
In the end, the airline pays the costs.
Colin Hunter, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Sunwing Travel Group
Colin Hunter says he doesn’t know when the party got “out of hand.” “Was it an hour from Cancun?” Half an hour away? ”
In fact, the party started on boarding, assures event organizer James William Awad in a private conversation with Press on Twitter. However, he assures us that the passengers then calmed down and returned to their places for take-off.
“Then, at the top, it started again,” said the businessman, who brought with him to Mexico a bunch of “influencers” and reality TV stars, as well as several of his partners in his “decentralized business”. “TripleOne.
Mask “not compulsory”?
Press also asked Colin Hunter about the passengers filmed without masks during the high altitude party. “There is no rule requiring travelers to wear a mask,” he says.
Federal guidelines in these times of pandemic are however crystal clear. “The Government of Canada requires all travelers aged six and over to wear a mask large enough to cover their mouth, nose and chin for the duration of their trip, according to the Transport Canada website. This also applies to people who have been fully vaccinated. ”
Colin Hunter also points out that Sunwing has not sold tickets to any of the 111 Private Club customers.
“It was a charter flight that was fully booked by these people, so it was a private matter that became public,” he says, adding that renting a plane provides “certain privileges that you don’t have. not on a commercial flight ”.
Radio silence
Press joined Colin Hunter at his home in Toronto after days of unsuccessful requests to speak to Sunwing management.
After our call, he called back to get a message from Airlines President Mark Williams. “He says there is an investigation going on and there will be no further comments,” said Colin Hunter.
However, he insisted that “40 people were refused boarding because they were not adequately vaccinated” against COVID-19.
“Silly decision”
Colin Hunter’s statements about the costs of an unplanned landing raise eyebrows among civil aviation specialists, but they aren’t much surprised.
“It is often for economic reasons that we make this kind of silly decision,” says Mehran Ebrahimi, an aeronautics specialist at the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
He finds Sunwing’s decision unacceptable.
They took the risk hoping it didn’t have any consequences, he said. People could have damaged the structure of the plane. They wanted to have fun. What if they wanted to open the emergency door?
Mehran Ebrahimi, aeronautics specialist
Ex-manager at Air Canada, John Gradek assures us that the aircraft had to be landed in such circumstances. “The decision to go to Cancun was surely made by Sunwing, not by the captain,” says the lecturer at McGill University. The conversation must have taken place. ”
However, he agreed that a landing could have cost the company dearly. “It would have affected their profit margin, and it is already not very high for a charter flight. ”
John Gradek estimates the cost of an unplanned landing to average $ 10,000, but it varies widely between a small regional airfield and a large, busy airport like those in Atlanta or Miami.
Sunwing’s media relations department sent Press an email repeating the same information already sent to journalists.
“As previously confirmed by Sunwing Airlines and extensively documented in online videos and on social media, a group of passengers aboard a private charter flight behaved in turbulent behavior, disobeying aviation and aviation regulations. public health, ”according to the message.
The company adds that the “incident is the subject of ongoing internal and regulatory investigations” and is therefore unable to provide further details.
Precision:
An earlier version of this text incorrectly mentioned that John Gradek had been a pilot. Rather, he was a manager at Air Canada. Our apologies.
AMF accusations: of the ” bullshit ”
James William Awad called it “bullshit” (bullshit) the official warning given to him by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in 2015. In a substantiated decision, the AMF court recognized that Mr. Awad – who was called at the time Kevin – had solicited investors without holding a permit or possessing the skills for such an activity. The AMF’s decision and review office ordered him to cease the activities of his firm KJRVS inc., In addition to paying penalties of $ 2,000. Mr. Awad defended himself about his troubles with the AMF in a short-lived Instagram post on Friday. He says he only wanted to help his friends invest in the stock market and that he only asked them for $ 20. “I had no money to fight against them [l’AMF] in court, ”he wrote.
Maxime Bergeron, Press