United Airlines Moves to Block AI Agents From Booking Flights

United Airlines is changing its ticketing policies to stop AI agents from booking flights through its website, third-party travel agencies and flight aggregators. The carrier says handing payment details or login credentials to an agent can expose sensitive information and lead to unintended purchases, account changes or misuse of MileagePlus miles.

United also argues that letting an AI agent complete a booking could run afoul of Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration rules - for instance, only a human can confirm at check-in that a bag contains no explosives. The airline joins companies like JPMorgan Chase and Amazon in blocking agents from their products.

CEO Scott Kirby has been candid about the company's hesitation toward agentic commerce. "To be honest, I don't want to create another middleman," he said at an event on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal. Not every airline agrees: Southwest built a plugin that lets users book flights with ChatGPT.

Consumer appetite may be limited anyway. On its recent third-quarter earnings call, Uber said it handled 320 million trips and deliveries during the week of Halloween - of which AI agents accounted for 500 Uber Eats orders and just four rides.