---
title: "Robophobic Airline Bans Humanoid Robots From Flights After Disruption"
description: "Southwest Airlines may have become the first airline to ban humanoid robots after two robot flights raised safety concerns."
date: "2026-05-17"
modified: "2026-05-17"
authors:
  - name: "Joe Wilkins"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins"
url: "https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/airline-bans-humanoid-robots"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
---

# Robophobic Airline Bans Humanoid Robots From Flights After Disruption

![A blurred humanoid robot figure is seen from behind, looking at a white airplane with a blue tail flying in a clear blue sky with scattered white clouds.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/airline-bans-humanoid-robots.jpg>)
*Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images*

Southwest Airlines appears to have become the first airline to enshrine a no-robots policy into their rulebook, after a Dallas business owner tried to take his 3.5-foot robot for a jaunt through the clouds.

First [reported by *CBS News*](<https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/southwest-airlines-bans-humanoid-robots-after-dallas-passenger-flight/>), Aaron Mehdizadeh, owner of robot-rental company the Robot Studio, was on his way home from a trip to Las Vegas with his robot pal "Stewie" in tow. Rather than shipping the humanoid-robot or checking it as cargo, Mehdizadeh bought the robot its own seat, presumably to draw out a little publicity.

It wasn't even the first such incident on a Southwest flight. Just days prior, a different humanoid robot passenger caused an [hour-long delay](<https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/humanoid-robot-airplane-delay>) on another Southwest flight, this one out of Oakland, California. In that episode, flight attendants went through a thorough checklist to ensure the robot would behave and that its battery didn't pose a flight hazard.

The pair of incidents apparently caused such a stir that just two days after Mehdizadeh's trip, Southwest announced a unilateral ban on humanoid- and animal-robots in the plane cabin, or even as checked luggage.

In a memo to *CBS*, Southwest said the new rule was put in place to comply with lithium-ion battery rules. Mehdizadeh, however, insists there's something else going on, because Stewie's battery was "essentially a laptop battery."

**More on robots:** *[Hacker Takes Over Robot Lawnmower, Runs Over Innocent Man](<https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/hacker-robot-lawnmower-runs-over-man>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/joeonhere.bsky.social>)