United Airlines is banning unauthorized third-party AI agents from booking flights, checking in passengers or making account changes on travelers’ behalf. CBS News reports: To make an airline booking, an AI agent requires access to a customer’s personal information, including credentials like payment information. United has a problem with that, saying that “sharing account credentials with personal, third-party, AI assistants can expose sensitive information, and actions taken by these tools may result in unintended purchases, account changes, or use of MileagePlus miles.”
The carrier also said that using an AI agent to, for example, check in for a flight could violate federal regulations, including rules requiring travelers to verify in person that their luggage does not contain banned substances. “As a result, United is taking steps to restrict access — directly within our digital platforms and indirectly via travel agencies and aggregators — to prohibit use by unauthorized, third-party personal AI agents or assistants,” said the airline, which is updating its booking and ticketing policies to reflect the new rule. “United is saying they don’t want to add yet another, and potentially even more powerful, intermediary than they already face in terms of Google search, price-comparison metasearch sites and online travel agencies,” said Henry Harteveldt, an aviation analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. “Flight searches cost airlines money, and undoubtedly United wants to avoid the expense associated with the surge of AI bot flight searches.”