Gander residents drive stranded air travelers to hotels after diversions

Hundreds of airline passengers stranded at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, after two flights were diverted because of bad weather were driven to local hotels by residents, according to Jackie Freake, assistant manager of the Quality Hotel and Suites.

Ms. Freake said the airport had up to 300 people who needed transportation and that she posted on the town’s community Facebook page, Gander Connect, around 8 p.m. because there were no cabs. “Everybody started going to the airport,” she said, and locals brought travelers down to the appropriate hotels. It took about four hours to transport all the guests, Ms. Freake said.

The episode was described as a smaller-scale repeat of Gander’s response after Sept. 11, 2001, when about 6,500 passengers from 240 diverted aircraft were taken in, nearly doubling a town now roughly 12,000 people; that story was later memorialized in the musical “Come From Away,” the article said.

One resident, Kristi Kinden, said she saw the post around 10 p.m., drove to the airport and offered rides, taking three women including an 83-year-old and stopping so two could get food. Ms. Freake said that on Thursday morning many of the travelers needed to return to the airport and that even more volunteer drivers showed up to take them back.

Key Topics

World, Gander, Newfoundland, Flight Diversions, Gander Connect, Jackie Freake