Southwest Airlines are exploring AI-powered booking, adding a bespoke plugin for booking flights within ChatGPT.
They become the first US airline to launch an initiative of this kind. Created in partnership with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the carrier says the feature will give customers more ways to explore and book travel with Southwest.
Sabrina Callahan, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at Southwest Airlines, said:
Customers are evolving how they plan their travel, and Southwest is helping to shape what comes next. [This] is a meaningful example of how we test and learn with AI innovation to continue the Customer-first approach that defines our brand.
ChatGPT users can ask the LLM for travel inspiration, or they can provide the model with specific dates and a destination to shop around for best offers. ChatGPT will then provide a link to the Southwest website where booking can be completed.
Lauren Woods, the airline’s Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, added:
We’re putting the right technology in place to support what our Customers need today with flexibility to build what they’ll need tomorrow. By creating a secure, scalable foundation for AI, we can add new capabilities more quickly and thoughtfully, making it easier to serve Customers across their journey.
Another airline that has launched a dedicated booking plugin for ChatGPT is Virgin Atlantic. OpenAI’s model is as of yet not fully agentic, with customers having to complete bookings and payments manually on the airline’s website. However, rival tech giant Meta recently debuted their AI agent Muse, which it says can book and pay for a user’s flights securely, all within the app.
It is currently unclear how many customers are using AI for travel planning and booking. Polling figures vary wildly, from as low as 10% to as high as 90%. But with ChatGPT now surpassing 1 billion monthly users, agentic search doesn’t seem far from becoming a strong force in the aviation industry.
It’s not too late to join us at World Aviation Festival 2026, happening next week in Lisbon!
