Canadian Airline WestJet Makes Passengers’ Wishes Come True In Christmas Miracle Video
Airline horror stories from passengers are not unusual. Many people from all over the world can recount one or two incidents that have ruined their flight experience. But as it is Christmas season, low-cost carrier WestJet thought to give their passengers a flight experience that they would never forget by making their wishes come true.
The Canadian airline just became the favourite carrier of more than 250 passengers from Toronto and Hamilton over the weekend. As they were waiting for their flight to Calgary to arrive, a Santa Claus on screen interacted with them to ask about their fondest wish.
Without expecting anything, the passengers humoured Santa and told him what they wanted for Christmas. The first couple who appeared on the clip asked for a big TV. One kid asked for an android tablet, while a man just wanted underwear and socks. Children mostly asked for toys, while some adults asked for electronics.
Unbeknownst to them, a group of WestJet staff took notes of their wishes and raced to the stores in Calgary to purchase the items.
As the planes landed at the Calgary International Airport, the passengers were surprised to see wrapped parcels with their names on them dropped from the baggage carousel. The gifts contained what they had asked Santa hours earlier.
Santa in blue was also there to greet the stunned guests as they opened their presents.
The last item to arrive, which appeared to be the highlight of the scheme, was a big parcel that contained a “big TV” for the aforementioned couple.
(Makes one wonder if the man who asked for underwear and socks regretted not asking for a more expensive item like what his fellow passengers did, hmmm?)
The WestJet Christmas Miracle took four months of planning and required over 150 volunteers to pull off. According to WestJet vice president Richard Bartem, the company wanted to spread the cheer this season, and the scheme was the best way that they have come up with to put a smile on their guests’ faces.
“This is all about having a lot of fun with Santa Claus himself, having some fun with the WestJetters, and spreading the Christmas cheer to all the people travelling with us,” he said in a separate video also released by the company on YouTube.
WestJet is donating flights through its WestJet Cares for Kids organisation once the video reaches at least 200,000 views on YouTube. As of the time of writing, it has amassed almost 317,000 views already.
In December 2012, WestJet pulled off a similar scheme. The Christmas Flash Mob was the first Christmas surprise project of the airline, which saw the Calgary International Airport transformed into one big production number.
WestJet Christmas Miracle:
December 2012 Christmas Flash Mob: