United Airlines is blocking third-party personal artificial intelligence (AI) agents from booking on its app and website.
United does not currently have any partnerships with third-party AI agents and will be restricting their use "directly within our digital platforms and indirectly via travel agencies and aggregators."
The airline said it prioritizes protecting customers' data and accounts and added that banking and retail companies have made similar moves.
"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 airline wrote.
"Plus, these automated AI actions have the potential to violate FAA and DOT regulations—as an example, flight check-in requires human acknowledgment that bags do not contain banned substances like explosives."
In its customer-facing Digital Trust Center, United further explained that travel agencies and booking platforms cannot use third-party AI agents to book United travel for their customers and can only use their own third-party AI tools with United's permission.
The policy also extends to bots, browser extensions and browser features that act for a consumer on United.com or on the United app without United's permission.
United said that even if consumers have given an AI agent access, it doesn't mean that the agent will be able to transact with United. The airline said it will not be canceling agent-made bookings made prior to the Nov. 11 restriction but recommended that travelers review bookings to ensure they're correct.
Research from Propellic published this week also found that both Instinct and Muse were able to carry conversations through to checkout, including with airlines.
"I was surprised that in all 176 scripted booking requests, the agents navigated their way to the payment step on their own, with no captchas or login walls stopping them," Brennen Bliss, CEO of Propellic, told PhocusWire.
Bookings were often routed through an intermediary, in this case, Duffel, as it provides the API for both Muse and Instinct flight bookings. According to Duffel's website, the Duffel Flights API allows customers to sell United flights.
Speaking with TechCrunch last month, Delta Air Lines said it would need to be mindful of "security and the customer experience" if it were to open up to AI agents. And while United appears to be the first airline to draw a hard line on agentic shopping, in September, Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on Amazon.com.