News Releases

Santa to travel in Boeing 737 to deliver gifts and good deeds across Canada in 20-hour period

CALGARY, Dec. 8, 2015 /CNW/ - Santa will pull out his blue coat, pants and hat to help his WestJet elves reach their goal of performing 12,000 mini miracles across Canada and the WestJet world on Wednesday, December 9, as part of WestJet's Mini-Miracle Day.

"WestJet's goal is to officially kick off the holiday season by performing 12,000 random acts of kindness in an effort to enrich the lives of everyone in the WestJet world," said Richard Bartrem, WestJet Vice-President, Marketing and Communications. "Everyone deserves the opportunity to be on the receiving end of a mini miracle."

In an effort to give his reindeer a rest before Christmas Day, Santa will hop on a WestJet Boeing 737 and travel across Canada over a 20-hour period. Starting in Halifax, the "Big Man" will join his WestJet elves on the streets to deliver mini miracles across the country. Santa's memorable day will include a trip up the CN Tower in Toronto, a caroling parade on Stephen Avenue in Calgary, a dogsled ride to Beck's Kennel in Yellowknife, and a trip to Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver.

In addition to Santa providing toys, flight vouchers and family trips, street teams comprised of WestJetters will be active in 13 cities around the WestJet world - London, UK, St. John's, Nfld., Quebec City, Toronto, New York City, Orlando, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Las Vegas, Vancouver, and Hawaii - where they will perform a wide range of spontaneous mini miracles in the community. Mini miracles will range from giving away free hot beverages to shoveling sidewalks, helping the elderly with groceries, purchasing tickets to community attractions, paying parking fees, handing out umbrellas and blankets, and providing meals to charitable groups, to name just a few.

WestJetters will also be performing mini miracles in all 38 airports served by the airline across Canada at 10 a.m. local time in each city.

"This is the fourth year of WestJet's Christmas Miracle campaign, which has become the most anticipated day of the year for many of our WestJetters," said Bartrem. "Having the opportunity to put smiles on people's faces while doing good deeds in communities around the WestJet world defines who we are as a company, and is a reflection of our caring corporate culture. It's a testament to how we treat our guests who fly with us."

A command centre will be set up at WestJet's headquarters in Calgary to track Santa's travels across the country and monitor completed miracles around the WestJet world. It will have a Santa tracker, showcase photos and videos of reported miracles, reports from Santa during his flight path, and a timer and miracle counter. The command centre will be fully operational for 24 hours starting at midnight (MST) on December 9.

Canadians are encouraged to perform their own mini miracles that day and post them to Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #WestJetChristmas.

Media note: Separate advisories will be sent today to media in eight Canadian provinces and/or regions where WestJet street teams will be performing mini miracles. Media are invited to cover these events. 

About WestJet
We are proud to be Canada's highest-rated airline for customer service, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to 100 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 150 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  ̶  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.

Recent recognition includes:
2015/2011/2008-2005 Canada's 10 Most-Admired Corporate Cultures (Waterstone Human Capital)
2015/2014/2013/2012 Canada's Most Attractive Employer (Randstad)
2015/2014/2013/2012 Top three brands in Canada (Canadian Business magazine)
2015 Best Employers in Canada (Aon Hewitt)
2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (MoneySense magazine)
2015/2014/2013 WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard ranked #1 in the Canada's Choice ranking (RewardsCanada.ca)
2014 Interbrand Canada's Best Canadian Brands (rank #20)
2014 Brands of the Year (Strategy magazine)
2014 Canada's Most Preferred Airline (Ipsos)
2014 Value Airline of the Year (Air Transport World magazine)
2014/2013/2012/2011 Highest equity score: airline, vacation package supplier brands (Harris/Decima EquiTrend Study)

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SOURCE WestJet