A passenger bought an extra seat on Southwest Airlines flight 1568 from Oakland to San Diego – for his 4-foot, 75 pound robot named Bebop. Flight attendants objected – first because it was seated by the aisle, then because its lithium battery exceeded the airline’s allowable size. The robot was moved to a window seat, the battery was removed, and the flight left about an hour late.
It turns out this is happening more and more, sometimes as stunts but also just to transport humanoid robots from one place to another. A Dallas-based rental robot, Stewie, flew from Las Vegas to Dallas also on Southwest. And after the incident, Southwest reportedly pushed an internal policy banning robots in the cabin and as checked baggage, though I don’t see anything in their Contract of Carriage about this.
A humanoid robot just boarded a @SouthwestAir flight with its own ticket.
Crews reportedly weren’t sure if it counted as a passenger or luggage.
That sounds funny.
But it also shows how unprepared public systems are for robots entering everyday life. pic.twitter.com/QUcBzAcBDQ
— Chris Madden (@chrismadden_) May 9, 2026
We just got robots banned from Southwest Airlines. You’re welcome 🫡
Yesterday we flew our humanoid robot Stewie from Las Vegas to Dallas on Southwest — something we (and others) have tried and failed multiple times because batteries are always the issue.
This time we cracked… pic.twitter.com/FqJjk1vSfQ— Aaron Mehdizadeh (@rentbotsTX) May 12, 2026
Robots aren’t passengers. Yet. For now they’re large electronic devices and they’re battery powered. It’s not always clear what bucket they fall into (passenger, carry-on, checked bag, musical instrument, cargo, mobility device). At this point I think ‘electronic seat baggage’ is roughly the category.
It’s fair for airlines to require pre-clearance, with the passenger submitting dimensions, weight, photos, battery rating, etc. A robot body might be acceptable. Separate question is about the size of the battery. An airline might require it to be powered down while onboard – not walking in the aisle!
- Airlines will probably require window seat, so there’s no issue with egress in an emergency. Normally baggage goes under the seat in front or overhead bin, not usually blocking the leg area of the seat, for a reason.
- They’ll also probably have to ban sitting in an exit row. Even young children can’t! Once again, it’s an egress issue, and even if in the window seat because that’s where the exit is.
- Passengers seated in the exit row have to be willing an able to assist in an emergency. A robot might be more reliable than a person at this! But the exit row can also be empty, with no one assisting.
Aren’t we going to start seeing this a lot, though? Matt Levine pointed out in the fall that “the world’s richest man demanded that people give him a trillion dollars so that he can have absolute control of the robot army.”
Elon Musk said on Tesla’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings call that they would wind down Model S and Model X production in order to use that Fremont production space as an Optimus robot factory with a long-term target of 1 million Optimus robots per year. Now, Musk says things but I don’t think most people appreciate just how weird the world is about to get, even accounting for how weird the world has been over the past decade.
And already TSA allows robots through checkpoints subject to screening and physical size limits! We allow musical instruments in seats. This seems like the same thing in terms of size and value. And it won’t be that long until we begin getting into moral questions of sentience.
Aeroflot actually tested a robot as a flight attendant. A stunt? Sure. But it’s coming. And AFA-CWA flight attendants union head Sara Nelson just endorsed replacing human jobs with AI.
We should see how much of a CEOs job could be replaced by AI. And how much it would lead to “better outcomes”
— Sara Nelson (@FlyingWithSara) May 11, 2026
It seems to me, the major problem is batteries. Airlines have been increasingly restricting these in the cabin because of fire risk. That’s something that’ll have to be addressed.
I have no problem with this and can’t wait until I can buy one in a couple of years as a helper and companion. Older and alone. These would be great to help with routine functions and also act as a health monitor
I would have preferred a robot as my seatmate on the CRJ-200 I was on yesterday rather than the fat flatulent giant I was seated next to.
Like a service dog, a robot companion does not currently earn frequent flyer miles for sitting in a paid extra seat.
Star Tours already determined that Droids are cargo, unless they are the pilot. Though, if the pilot Droid is flying it’s first flight, I might want to take the next one.
Droids can fly in the passenger cabin on private flights, such as on board YT-1300 craft.
Airlines are not the ones who set the rules on Lithium battery limits for travel IATA is.
It is almost guaranteed that a robot battery exceeds the size limit for travel on ANY passenger aircraft and would typically be relegated to “AIR CARGO ONLY”.
And BTW, even the state of charge of the battery plays into the regulations. Too much charge, it can’t fly. Too little charge, same thing.
These are long established rules and are not to be trifled with in the name of safety.
Size is not an issue. People have been buying seats for cellos and bass violins for decades.
It’s the batteries that are the issue.
*beep boop* Yay.
@Ken A — *growling* woof…
@Goforride — “Size is not an issue.” Naw, size matters. Giggity.
@Retired Gambler — “Older and alone.” Aww. You got ‘friends’ on here, no?
This is the GOP’s ticket to continue stealing elections from the majority — allow these demons to register to vote. Problem solved. The fascist manufacturers and owners wil rule forever.
And back on the topic — yes, these should be BANNED.
And of course somehow this has to be political? Yep, Trump called up the airlines and told them to allow robots to board. You people have no clue as to how stupid you sound to a normal person.
How would this be any different than a celloist buying a seat for his/her cello?
“Size is not an issue. People have been buying seats for cellos and bass violins for decades.”
Cellos and bass violins don’t have a potential glitch where they could decide to stand up and start bitch slapping someone to death. And then there’s the lithium heart of these things.
Last time I flew in/out of Florida, multiple battery-powered mobility scooters were loaded into the cargo hold…
Just a few things I was thinking about. How sure can anyone be that a robot will be a trustworthy device? could it contain a hidden battery and activate autonomously to aid in a high jacking or worse. How can one verify this? how can we detect a hidden power source in a metal device?
Fascinating! Thanks for the story, Gary.
Yes, this needs to be worked out. There is a *huge* future of robot companions helping elderly. They will make travel — and life — much, much easier for some people.
My robot will be trained to fold into an approved size compartment and remove its own darn battery.
I know the important rule for humanoid robots: I get the armrest.
Pull the lithium batteries…put ’em in their box and check them as luggage!
@Win Whitmire — Mislabeled, potentially hazardous cargo can be an issue, too. See, Asiana 991, SAA 295, ValuJet 592, American Airlines 132, UPS 6, Saudia 163, etc. Need proper scanning of cargo, better notification systems, fire suppression, and crew training.
Robots are probably better than a lot of humans and service animals.
@ this comes to mind: I have yet to see a companion robot with a 60in waist.
@ George Romey, can a cult member be considered normal? ignoring evidence, complying without question, denying what that persons sees and hears with their own eyes and ears?