Delta is ushering in a new best-in-class travel experience for pets and their owners with the exclusive launch of CarePod. The introduction of this state-of-the-art pet travel carrier, which provides many industry leading features including real-time updates throughout the journey, heralds a new standard of first-class safety and care for pet air travel.

After five years of research, development and testing, on top of a successful two-month trial, CarePod will be exclusively offered at eight US locations: Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York (JFK and LaGuardia), San Francisco and West Palm Beach. There will then be a phased approach to roll it out across Delta’s US network.

“Continuous innovation is in Delta’s DNA and the launch of the CarePod pet travel carrier, an industry first, is an example of us seeking out innovative partnerships and looking at ways to improve the customer experience throughout all parts of their journey,” said Shawn Cole, vice president of Delta Cargo. “As the only airline to offer this premium pet travel solution, it represents a significant improvement for the millions of people that want to travel with their four-legged family members.”

The CarePod pet travel carrier has several innovative safety features that make it the ultimate air travel experience for pets such as tronger, industrial strength walls that are insulated to protect pets against potential temperature fluctuations when moving between different climates and travel conditions.