A few years back, the Stuck at The Airport holiday crew had the rare treat of returning as an embedded elf on one of the annual Fantasy Flights to the North Pole leaving from Spokane International Airport.

Alaska Airlines has been parterning with an incredibly devoted local organization, Northwest North Pole Adventures, since 2008 to make this annual charter trip to Santa’s workshop possible for several dozen kids from shelters and transitional housing.

Here’s a link to the report from my 2021 report on that flight.

Each year, other airlines partner with local organizations to make North Pole flights possible as well.

For example, this month United Airlines partnered with local employees and community groupts to host Fantasy Flights for kids and their families from 12 airports.

Here’s their handy infographic for Santa to review.

And American Airlines once again joined the Gary Sinise Foundation to host the 20th annual Snowball Express.

The event gives families who have lost a loved one during military service and families of fallen first responders an an all-expenses paid week-long visit to Walt Disney World Resort.

This year, more than a thousand American Airlines employees volunteered at more than 90 airports and on 17 charter aircraft to make this year’s Snowball Express a success.

We’ve still got the outfit, so joining one or more of these flights next year as an embedded elf is already on the 2026 to-do list.