I’m Guessing There Will be an Air Canada PR Opening Soon

Air Canada lost a dog when one of their employees decided to take it on a walk during a delay. While a nice gesture, the dog’s guardian had left instructions that the dog not be allowed out of the crate except in an enclosed room. But, that’s not the worst part. When the local Sacramento CBS station e-mailed Air Canada about the incident, this is the response they received:

I think I would just ignore, it is local news doing a story on a lost dog. Their entire government is shut down and about to default and this is how the US media spends its time.

Clearly the e-mail was not meant for the CBS station but for a co-worker maybe? My guess is that the spokesman, Peter Fitzpatrick, is polishing up his resume. Be careful when sending e-mail, you never know when you are going to hit “Reply All”.

Update: It looks like Fitzpatrick has responded to his e-mail comments:

Fitzpatrick, a veteran public relations official, told the Star that he regretted this email, but to suggest he was callous or uncaring is “an unfair portrayal.”
He said the email was partly meant to be a joke, but he was exasperated with the line of questioning that he had no answers to.

You’re in PR, your whole job revolves around answering questions (even ones you don’t have answers for).