United Airlines has become the first US carrier to ban personal AI agents from booking its flights, warning that the tools could expose customer information and break federal rules. The airline announced the ban on 11 November, revising its Contract of Carriage to put AI agents alongside other prohibited ticketing practices.

The new Rule 6.J.6 bars "the use of AI Agents to make, modify or service a Ticket, and/or to purchase any service or product". A companion change, Rule 5.H, gives United the right to cancel without notice any reservation made, modified or serviced by an AI agent. The ban covers United's own website and app, as well as bookings made through travel agencies and aggregators.

What travellers can still do with AI

The ban is not a ban on looking. AI agents can still show United flight options and prices, but they cannot complete the purchase — the customer must finish the booking themselves. Bookings an AI agent made before 11 November will not be cancelled, although United recommends travellers check recent trips were ticketed correctly. United says it does not yet work with any third-party AI agents, but wants to build standardised, secure integrations first.

Why United says it acted

In its statement, United cited concern that personal agents can "expose sensitive information, and actions taken by these tools may result in unintended purchases, account changes, or use of MileagePlus miles". It also warned that automated actions could violate Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation rules, because check-in requires a passenger to personally acknowledge that their bags do not contain banned items such as explosives. Other industries have moved first: some banks restricted agents' access in October, and Amazon blocked agents from its website in September. Simple Flying first reported the contract changes.