No Fly Zone: Robot passenger at Love Field prompts Southwest Airlines to ban ‘bots

DALLAS – The first step for robot-kind in the aviation world will have to wait after Southwest Airlines banned human-like robots from its flights.

Stewie takes flight

What we know:

On May 7, an employee of The Robot Studio, a Dallas-based company, took a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas Love Field to Las Vegas with a robotic companion named Stewie.

The Robot Studio purchased Stewie its own plane ticket, and the company made sure its battery within it was FAA compliant in order for it to fly.

Social media videos posted by The Robot Company show Stewie interacting with passengers and walking from the terminal onto the plane, much to the bewilderment of the plane’s flight attendents.

The next day, Southwest Airlines updated their baggage policy to implement a robot ban including human-like and animal-like bots.

Southwest robot ban

In a statement to FOX 4, Southwest Airlines said: “To ensure compliance with our guidelines for traveling safely with lithium-ion batteries, Southwest clarified its baggage policy to include robotic devices.”

The airline has added a page on their website that explains the new position on robotic devices:

“Southwest Airlines does not allow human-like or animal-like robots to be transported in the cabin or as checked baggage, regardless of size or purpose. A “human‑like robot” is a robot designed to resemble or imitate a human in its appearance, movement, or behavior. An “animal-like robot” is a robot designed to resemble or imitate an animal in its appearance, movement, or behavior. All other robots, including toys, must be able to fit within a carry-on size bag and comply with existing battery restrictions.”

“It’s hard to hate that robot”

What they’re saying:

“You know, when you see Stewie flying on an airplane, it’s hard to hate that robot.”

Aaron Mehdizadeh owns The Robot Studio, a company that rents out robots like Stewie. He says they followed every precaution in order for Stewie to take its first flight.

“The battery that we used was not a safety hazard, and a lot of people online were like how can you bring a lithium battery, you’re endangering people,” Mehdizadeh said. “This battery was totally under the FAA limit.”

Instead, Stewie’s next flight will have to wait. Mehdizadeh expects radical changes in the world of artificial intelligence and robots.

“I understand why people have the fear,” he said. “But if you are aligned towards the future and position yourself to be always learning, every new AI feature that comes out, and being ahead of the curve, this could be one of the greatest things that’s ever happened in human history.”

Pushkar Shinde, The Robot Company’s Chief Technology Officer, compares today’s stance on robots to how people felt about automobiles in the early 1920s.

“So from my perspective, this is like a very early industry,” Shinde said. “It’s still predominantly entertainment.”