Some stranded Air Canada passengers are singing the praises of a WestJet pilot who bought them pizza after their own airline told them there was no food available.
The unidentified WestJet pilot called a local pizza place in Fredericton after a planeload of Air Canada passengers landed back there when their plane couldn’t land in St. John’s because of bad weather. It was after midnight and Air Canada staff had told them no food was available.
“Out of nowhere, a WestJet pilot emerged and said, ‘Hey … I am from WestJet and we do things differently. Who wants pizza?'” passenger John Samms told CBC’s St. John’s Morning Show.
Within a half hour, the pizzas arrived and the pilot paid for them out of his own pocket.
Air Canada confirmed the incident and referred to the WestJet pilot as a “a caring customer, an airline employee himself” who “stepped up” in its own staff’s absence. The WestJet pilot might have been commuting under the seat sharing arrangements that airlines have to move staff around.
“Clearly we should have done better for our customers,” a spokesman told CBC.