Santa Lands His Reindeer on Logan-Bound Plane
McKayla Bento, from Taunton, was boarding a flight Sunday from London to Boston when things got weird.
The junior at American University in Washington, D.C. had just completed a stint studying abroad in England and was heading home for the holidays. A frequent flyer, she knew something was up when the crew at Heathrow asked her before boarding if she’d mind being filmed on the flight.
But she had no idea what was in store for her 30,000 feet over the Atlantic.
Here’s what was brewing: Virgin Atlantic teamed up with Microsoft to surprise the 264 passengers with a visit from Santa, who’d be landing his reindeer on top of the 787 during the flight.
However, the pilot kept that part under wraps until a few hours in.
“I figured they were doing something promotional for the holidays or with the new plane,’’ said Bento.
Virgin Atlantic then handed Bento and every passenger a Windows tablet upon boarding. They were told they could log onto NORAD to track Santa and enjoy a live chat with the big guy.
“We’re like, all right, this will be cool,’’ said Bento, who traveled with friends in her program who were also from the Boston area.
Santa and his reindeer approaching Sunday’s flight for a landing.
So what did Bento ask Santa?
“I asked him what his favorite cookie was,’’ she said with a laugh.
And?
“He said chocolate chip,’’ she said.
The live chatting with Santa was a nice touch. But, other than that, passengers carried on as if it was an average flight — eating dinner, ordering beverages, using in-flight entertainment, chatting, reading, and so on.
That is, until the pilot addressed the plane.
“He says, ‘I think I see Santa, I think I might see him!’’ Bento said.
Passengers looked up at what appeared to be a glass roof on the plane. Santa was wiping away snow and peering down at them (a well-placed projector the source of the Christmas magic).
“The little girl behind me was freaking out,’’ said Bento. “We all were.’’
McKayla Bento and friends Evan Martinez and Ryan Saunders took a Santa selfie on their festive Virgin Atlantic flight Sunday.
The pilot instructed passengers to turn on their tablet’s “Santa Cam’’ so they could view photos of Santa on the roof with his reindeer. Bento and her friends were in the second-to-last row and watched with wonder as Santa entered through a special “Santa hatch’’ right beside them. He mingled with passengers and took selfies (including one with Bento and her buddies) before heading back outside to resume his trans-Atlantic reindeer-training flight.
After Santa left, the pilot announced passengers would be taking their tablets home as gifts.
“We were like, Oh my God!’’ said Bento.
The giving wasn’t over. Passengers won prizes of Xboxes and other Microsoft devices as the flight continued to Boston.
Bento has read about airlines staging elaborate events over the holidays. When asked if she ever imagined it would happen to her, she said, “Oh absolutely not, not in a million years!’’
“We wanted to offer something extra special for the families flying with us this Christmas and who better to spread the Christmas cheer than Santa himself?’’ said Debbie Hulme, head of customer experience at Virgin Atlantic.
When Bento’s plane landed at Logan Airport, it was close to 9 p.m. The flight had been delayed during take-off, so when her mother and sister met her at the gate, they wanted to know why she was late.
Boy did she have a story to tell.
Watch the video of what the passengers on Virgin Atlantic from London to Boston experienced Sunday:
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