United Airlines Bans AI Agents From Booking Flights On Behalf of Travelers

United Airlines has announced it will prohibit unauthorized third-party AI agents from managing flights, check-ins, and account alterations for passengers. According to CBS News, such AI agents demand access to personal customer data including payment details. United expresses concerns that sharing such credentials with third-party AI assistants could lead to sensitive information exposure and unintentional purchases, account modifications, or misuse of MileagePlus miles.

Moreover, using an AI agent for tasks like flight check-ins might breach federal regulations necessitating in-person verification of luggage contents. Consequently, United is implementing measures to restrict access both directly through its digital platforms and indirectly via travel agencies and aggregators, thereby preventing unauthorized third-party AI agents or assistants from utilizing its services.

The airline cites the need to avoid adding yet another intermediary, such as Google search, price-comparison metasearch sites, and online travel agencies, which already pose significant challenges. Aviation analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research Group notes that flight searches incur costs for airlines, and United aims to mitigate expenses related to the growing number of AI bot flight searches.