Stranded for hours on a snowy tarmac, passengers on an Air Canada flight were beginning to feel the travel stress, but their pilot knew the answer: 23 pizzas delivered to the airplane’s door.
Air Canada Flight 608 left Toronto bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the night of March 4, but bad weather in Canada forced the aircraft to be diverted to Fredericton, New Brunswick. After several hours stuck in the plane, the pilot decided to order food.
Jofee Larivée, the manager at Minglers Restaurant and Pub in Oromocto, received the pilot’s call and took down his order for 23 pizzas topped with cheese and pepperoni.
True story! On AIr Canada # 608 that was diverted to Fredericton because we couldn’t land in HAlifax. staying in plane on the tarmac. Captain has ordered pizza which should be here in 20 mins. pic.twitter.com/NNM8Tfmc4P
— Bill Karsten (@bill_karsten) March 5, 2019
On tarmac in Fredericton on flight #608 flight diverted from HALIFAX PIZZA had arrived! #cbc #aircanada pic.twitter.com/VlXxdbiOty
— Bill Karsten (@bill_karsten) March 5, 2019
“We told him we could have them made in an hour or hour and a half,” Larivée said.
She said they have never delivered pizza to an airplane, and they were “laughing all night” about the unusual order.
Her crew got the pizzas ready in an hour and sent them to the airport via Minglers’ delivery service.
Larivée said she called the plane to tell the pilot of the pizzas’ arrival and the captain sent people to meet the delivery at the door.
Passenger Philomena Hughes told CNN partner CBC News that she credits the pilot for keeping the passengers informed and fed after being on the plane for about eight hours from the time they boarded in Toronto.
“It was something that could have been very stressful; he made it a lot easier,” she said. “There was lots of help, there were a couple of Air Canada Jazz pilots that were traveling on the plane and they were helping to pick up the pizza and distribute it. Everybody chipped in, so he didn’t want to take the whole credit for himself.”
Larivée also gave the pilot credit for his demeanor, noting he even called the restaurant on Tuesday to thank the staff for getting the pizza to the plane so quickly.
The plane was scheduled to arrive back in Halifax on Tuesday afternoon.
A pilot on an @AirCanada flight knew exactly what to do after his diverted plane full of passengers was stranded for eight hours in the snow: Order pizza. https://t.co/QKQuE8GJkM
— USA TODAY Travel (@usatodaytravel) March 7, 2019
