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Delta launches new airline pet travel option, feds float restrictions

Delta Cargo Lead Product Manager Sara Bernhardt and her 5-month-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Peach, introduce the CarePod, a pet travel carrier exclusive to Delta Air Lines, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Delta Cargo Facility in Atlanta, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The CarePod will initially be offered at eight U.S. locations across the Delta domestic network. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Delta Cargo Lead Product Manager Sara Bernhardt and her 5-month-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Peach, introduce the CarePod, a pet travel carrier exclusive to Delta Air Lines, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Delta Cargo Facility in Atlanta, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The CarePod will initially be offered at eight U.S. locations across the Delta domestic network. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Delta Cargo Lead Product Manager Sara Bernhardt and her 5-month-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Peach, introduce the CarePod, a pet travel carrier exclusive to Delta Air Lines, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Delta Cargo Facility in Atlanta, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. The CarePod will initially be offered at eight U.S. locations across the Delta domestic network. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

By Kelly Yamanouchi / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via The Associated Press 4 min read

Delta Air Lines is introducing an upscale alternative for four-legged travelers: a pet carrier with GPS tracking, built-in water bowl and triple-locking door.

At $850 one way, the elaborate new crate for the cargo hold isn’t cheap. But it does come with industrial-strength walls and “specially angled blinds to help create a calming environment for pets,” the Atlanta-based airline announced Wednesday.

The launch of the CarePod follows Delta’s decision in 2016 to stop accepting pets as checked baggage, after facing criticism for pet deaths in checked carriers.

It also comes as the era of emotional support animals and exotic service animals in flight cabins might come to an end – potentially removing one popular option to travel with a pet for free.

That’s because the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled a proposal Wednesday to stop recognizing emotional support animals as service animals and to recognize only dogs as service animals.