Fury as Southwest flight to San Diego is delayed by ROBOT passenger that sat in aisle seat

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:14, 3 May 2026 | Updated: 18:14, 3 May 2026 Southwest Airlines faced a flurry of backlash after a robot passenger delayed a flight for nearly an hour after its carryon luggage was too big.  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 set to depart at 2pm, sat on the tarmac for around an hour due to a four-foot tall robot named Bebop, FlightAware showed.  A pilot said over the aircraft's intercom that an 'unusual passenger' had caused the delay, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.  While the robot was seen walking around the airport prior to boarding, crews grew concerned for the robot being sat in the aisle seat, which is against policy for large-carry on items.  But, once Bebop was seated in the window seat instead, crews also expressed worry for 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.'  Southwest Flight 1568 from San Francisco's Bay Airport to San Diego International Airport had an unusual robot passenger that stoked fury onboard on Thursday after it caused a delay  The flight, which was set to depart at 2pm, sat on the tarmac for around an hour due to a four-foot tall robot named Bebop Crews onboard were concerned for the robot being sat in the aisle seat, which is against policy for large-carry on items and expressed worry for its batteries, which 'exceeded the maximum allowable size' Eventually, the flight departed just after 3pm and landed around one hour later in San Diego.  A fellow passenger of Bebop's, 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, an electronics company in Dallas that rents robots for events, was seen taking selfies with the robot in the seat next to him before the flight took off.  Before 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 an hour to rent out.  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 traveling to California from Texas.  To People, he said in a statement: '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.' Bebop's travel companion, Eily Ben-Abraham, works for Elite Event Robotics, an electronics company in Dallas that rents robots for events, was seen taking selfies with the robot in the seat next to him before the flight took off 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 Before 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 an hour to rent out But the amusing scenario wasn't well received by everyone, as 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.  '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,' one user said.  A fourth shared a different opinion and wrote: '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.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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