Demand Letter to Air Canada for Negligence in the Handling of Therapy Dog

The Rationale:

The object of this assignment is to prepare a demand letter according to the specifications detailed below. Students must communicate in a clear, concise, and precise manner using appropriate and professional language.  

• Students must ensure their submissions are free from spelling, structural, grammatical, or punctuation errors.

• This assignment must be completed individually. Nogroup work is permitted.
• Students must prepare a demand letter with reference to the Client Interview Memorandum.
• The demand letter should follow the outline presented in week nine materials (PowerPoint and textbook).
• Students are required to prepare a letterhead using the information provided.
• All information re names, dates, and amounts has been provided.
• Students are required to upload/submit a signedAcknowledgement Regarding Academic Integrity as the last page of their assignment.
• Submissions will not be accepted unless the assignment is accompanied by a signed Acknowledgement Regarding Academic Integrity.
• Assignments are to be uploaded to SLATE/handed in within the first 15 minutes of class in Week 10.
• Assignments submitted via email will NOT BE ACCEPTED in any circumstances.
• Please include a copy of the rubric with your hard-copy submission

• Assignments should be prepared using 11-point New Times Roman or Arial font.
• Assignments should use 1.15 spacing
• Assignments should be prepared in accordance with the template at page 120 of the O’Mara textbook (figure 6.2).
• Assignments which do not conform to the above instructions may be returned to students, ungraded, at the instructor’s discretion.

Mr. Frank Fairgate attended today regarding Air Canada’s negligence in the handling of his son’s therapy dog, Maisie.  Maisie, a 4-year-old Staffordshire Terrier, travelled with the Fairgate family on Air Canada flight #549 from Toronto to Orlando on February 20, 2020.

Mr. Fairgate had arranged for Maisie to sit in the cabin with his son, Frank Jr., during the flight and had purchased a seat for the animal. Upon arriving at the gate prior to takeoff, Mr. Fairgate was informed that the flight was overbooked, and that Maisie would have to travel in the cargo hold for the duration of the 3 hour and 10-minute flight. Mr. Fairgate reluctantly agreed after being assured by the Air Canada representative that animals routinely travel in the cargo hold.

Flight #549 was delayed on takeoff and remained on the tarmac for 1 hour before departing. Upon arrival in Orlando, passengers were required to remain on the plane for a further 90 minutes due to backlogs at the inbound gates. Once passengers were permitted to deplane, Mr. Fairgate inquired as to when and where he could retrieve Maisie. Mr. Fairgate was advised that the cargo hold would be unloaded after the luggage. Mr. Fairgate waited by the baggage carousel for an hour-and-a-half before Maisie’s carrier was brought to him. Upon opening the carrier the Fairgate family, including Frank Jr., discovered that Maisie had perished.

The Fairgate family was devasted. What had begun as a much-anticipated family vacation to Disneyworld ended in horror at the Orlando airport; Maisie died – terrified and alone – after spending a total of 7 hours and 10 minutes in the cargo hold with no access to food or water. According to a veterinarian report, noise, extreme temperatures, and inadequate pressurization was likely the cause of Maisie’s demise. The Fairgate family had Maisie cremated in Orlando and promptly returned, with her ashes, to Toronto.

Mr. Fairgate is both heartbroken and angry; understandably, Frankie Jr. is devastated. While money cannot ever replace Maisie, Mr. Fairgate has suffered financial losses (as detailed below) as a result of Air Canada’s negligence. Mr. Fairgate has reached out to Air Canada representatives, and has received nothing but their apologies.

Mr. Fairgate is seeking to recover his damages. He does not wish to go court, however, as he understands that litigation can be a long process. Further, Mr. Fairgate must procure another therapy dog for Frankie Jr. as soon as possible. Therapy dogs are expensive, and Mr. Fairgate cannot afford to purchase one until he receives compensation for Maisie. Mr. Fairgate has not yet gone to the media with his story; however, he is willing to do so if he cannot recover his expenses from Air Canada in an expeditious manner.

Compose a demand letter to Air Canada Customer. In it, you will summarize the events that have transpired and request the damages detailed below. Note that Mr. Fairgate is willing to accept an amount representing 80% of his damages if the funds are received within 7 days of the letter’s receipt. In order to expedite Air Canada’s receipt of the letter, it will be sent by Overnight Priority Mail.

Cost of therapy dog $5,085.00 (inclusive of tax)

Cost of airline ticket for Maisie      709.44 (economy class)

Cost of cremation      135.60

Cost of cremation urn      146.90