Southwest Airlines faced a flurry of backlash after a robot passenger delayed a flight for nearly an hour because its carry-on luggage was too large. Flight 1568 from San Francisco's Bay Airport to San Diego International Airport had an unusual passenger that stoked fury onboard on Thursday.
The flight, which was scheduled to depart at 2:00 PM, sat on the tarmac for approximately one hour due to a four-foot-tall robot named Bebop, according to FlightAware. A pilot announced over the aircraft's intercom that an 'unusual passenger' had caused the delay, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
While the robot was seen walking around the airport prior to boarding, crew members grew concerned when Bebop was seated in the aisle seat, which is against policy for large carry-on items. However, once Bebop was moved to the window seat, the crew also expressed worry about its batteries.
'The device's lithium battery exceeded the maximum allowable size, so the customer was asked to remove it,' Southwest Airlines spokesperson Lynn Lunsford told the outlet. 'We appreciate the professionalism of our flight crew in addressing this situation.'
The flight eventually departed just after 3:00 PM and landed about an hour later in San Diego. A fellow passenger, Cathy Brown, told the outlet: 'You have to be open to any new adventure when you travel these days.'
Bebop's travel companion, Eily Ben-Abraham, works for Elite Event Robotics, a Dallas-based electronics company that rents robots for events. He was seen taking selfies with the robot in the seat next to him before takeoff. Prior to boarding, Bebop was seen swinging its arms and dancing in front of a crowd in a video on Instagram. The robot, according to Ben-Abraham, costs $500 per hour to rent.
Ben-Abraham told the Chronicle that the company 'regularly' transports the machines, even internationally, but the bot was too heavy to be placed in cargo. The company decided that the 'next best thing to do was buy it a ticket,' the outlet reported. Ben-Abraham added that he had no issues traveling with Bebop from Texas to California.
In a statement to People, he said: 'Our robots are designed to create engaging, memorable experiences at events, and moments like this highlight both the novelty of the technology and the evolving logistics that come with bringing these experiences nationwide.'
However, the amusing scenario was not well received by everyone. One fellow passenger wrote on Instagram: 'Your publicity stunt caused a significant delay, making the entire flight late and causing me to miss a connecting flight. This resulted in a two-hour wait and an additional $400 expense.'
'Well done delaying flight for an hour just to bring your emotional support clanker,' another wrote. A third user commented: 'How does this even get through security?! We get searched and wanded and can't get a power bank for our phones through but this gets through, what a joke! I'd be p***ed for being delayed for this for so long especially on such a short flight.'
A fourth shared a different opinion: 'Think this is fine as long as you are buying a seat for it. Should contact the airline to ensure no delay in future for other passengers sake. Could have made someone late for their connecting flight, a meeting or funeral and not fair to others. My suggestion in the future, find out how seats are on that plane, and bring enough $100 bills to give everyone on the flight for the extra time taken to bring along your special passenger. If that is not feasible then perhaps $50 a person for the extra hour they lost.'
