Christmas Spirit

Christmas is alive and well – at least in Canada where low cost airline Westjet has thrilled passengers making their wishes come true.

Passengers on a flight from Toronto to Calgary talked to a “digital Santa” after their boarding passes were scanned and he asked them what they wanted for Christmas.

Nineteen hidden cameras captured the passengers confiding their Christmas wishes and the passengers all thought this was a bit of fun and nothing would ever come of it.

Think again, because behind the scenes 150 “Westjetters” were ready to move.

As the flight took off the army of workers along with WestJet’s partners Best Buy Canada, Calgary International Airport Authority, Toronto Pearson International Airport and John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport went to work.

All the wishes were sourced from socks and underwear to flat screen TVs and beautifully gift wrapped and delivered to Calgary International Airport.

Passengers were stunned upon arrival when a festively decorated baggage carousel came to life and instead of suitcases the gifts they had asked for merely hours before appeared.

Passengers were in tears and the joy was extraordinary.

“This year, we wanted to turn our holiday campaign into a tradition by doing something that's never been done before," said Richard Bartrem, WestJet Vice-President, Communications and Community Relations. 

"Inspired by the notion of real-time giving, we wanted to surprise our guests with meaningful, personalized gifts when they least expected them. Being able to show our guests how much we care with gift-giving, a tried and true holiday tradition, resonates with WestJetters as much as our guests."

The video of the event has now recorded 30 million hits on Youtube!