Air Canada Diverts International Flight to Save a Dog’s Life

In another example of our exceptional hosptiality, an Air Canada flight was recently diverted to ensure the safety of one of its passengers – a beloved dog.

A seven-year-old French bulldog identified as Simba was travelling in the cargo hold of a flight bound to Toronto from Tel Aviv when the pilot got an indicator that one of the heaters in the cargo hold had malfunctioned.

This, of course, is not good news for our four-legged travel companions – Air Canada rules state that temperatures need to be at a minimum of 10 degrees when dealing with dogs.

According to Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick, the pilot recognized that the cargo hold would soon be much colder than that minimum as the plane flew over the Atlantic Ocean. Meaning, the dog might not survive.

So, the pilot diverted the plane to Frankfurt, transferred the dog to another plane, and made it to Toronto only 75 minutes behind schedule.

“While we recognize this was an inconvenience for our customers, the overall reaction was positive, particularly once people understood the dog was in potential danger but safe as a result of the diversion,” Fitzpatrick said in an email, according to CP24.

Air Canada incurred approximately $10,000 in extra fuel costs as a result of the diversion, but most people would probably argue it was worth the expense.

As for Simba, he was reunited to his owner at Pearson.

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