United Airlines has updated its contract of carriage to ban unauthorized AI assistants from booking, modifying, or servicing reservations — and says it will cancel any reservation made in violation. The move puts United on a collision course with a wave of AI travel agents that consumers and corporate travel managers have been adopting to manage trip logistics.
What changed: United's updated terms, reported by The Washington Post, explicitly prohibit AI agents — software that acts on behalf of a user — from interacting with United's booking systems without prior authorization from the airline. The contract reserves the right to cancel any booking made through an unauthorized agent, meaning travelers who used an AI assistant to book could find their reservation voided.
Why United did this: CEO Scott Kirby framed it as not wanting "another middleman" inserted between the airline and its customers. United already pushed back against online travel agencies for years over data access and commission structures; Kirby appears to view AI booking agents as the same dynamic at scale, with the added complication of data security and federal regulatory compliance. Airlines operate under strict rules around passenger data handling; an AI agent accessing and transmitting itinerary data raises questions about liability that current federal regulations do not cleanly resolve.
