British and American media headlines have concentrated on the “frozen island” on which hundreds of airline passengers were recently stranded, but despite the temperature, many ended up experiencing the warmth of Newfoundland hospitality after a British Airways flight from London to Houston was diverted to the capital city last week.

Staff at the Delta Hotel in St. John’s offered up their own coats, and even made runs to get diapers and other essentials.

Hotel manager Heather McKinnon says some 255 passengers were on the flight, which landed in St. John’s last Tuesday.

Stranded passengers were left without their checked baggage, and many only had access to the clothes on their backs.

Hotel staff drove to a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart to get diapers, toiletries, and other essentials for those who needed them, while others went to Walmart to get warm clothes.

The passengers weren’t able to fly out the following day, so they returned to the hotel around midnight with empty bellies.

“The kitchen was closed at that point, and so my team had to come in and get the kitchen grills going again to feed the passengers once more,” she told VOCM News.

“It reminded me of 9/11. I have a number of team members that still work here and worked during that time period and looked after guests the way we did. And we’re always here to do that and put our best foot forward.”