A viral May flight from Dallas to Las Vegas prompted the airline to update its baggage policy
Aaron Mehdizadeh, owner of a Dallas-based robot rental business called The Robot Studio, purchased a passenger seat on a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas Love Field to Las Vegas and filled it with a 3.5-foot humanoid robot named Stewie. The robot walked through the airport terminal and boarded the aircraft under its own power. Passengers noticed. Flight crew members were confused about what to do with it.
The situation became logistically awkward mid-flight. Because Stewie had been classified as a carry-on item rather than a passenger, it technically had no business sitting in a paid seat. Southest crew members moved the robot to a window position and disconnected its battery before the flight could continue to its destination.
Two days after the flight, Southwest updated its baggage policy.
What the new policy says
Southwest now prohibits human-like and animal-like robots from both the cabin and checked baggage, regardless of size or purpose. The airline defined the banned category as robotic devices designed to resemble or imitate humans or animals in appearance, movement, or behavior. Robots that do not fall into those categories — including toys — remain permitted if they fit within carry-on size limits and comply with existing battery restrictions.
The airline framed the ban as a safety measure related to lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used to power humanoid robots. Southwest said the policy update was intended to bring robotic devices into compliance with its guidelines for traveling safely with such batteries.
What the robot’s owner says
Mehdizadeh pushed back on the airline’s battery-based rationale. He said Stewie’s power source was fully compliant with FAA regulations and comparable in scale to a laptop battery, arguing it did not pose any safety hazard to the aircraft or passengers. He said his company had taken every precaution before the flight and expressed hope that Southwest would reconsider the policy once the aviation industry develops clearer safety standards for humanoid robots on commercial flights.
The incident has surfaced a question the aviation industry has not yet answered: what rules apply when a passenger purchases a seat for a humanoid robot, and who is responsible for enforcing them once the flight is in the air?