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A Southwest Airlines flight was delayed for about an hour recently for a most unusual reason.
A humanoid robot had been brought on board as a passenger. But it couldn’t take to the skies right away.
The 75-pound robot, named Bebop, was traveling from Oakland, California, to San Diego on Thursday, April 30 — and attracted a crowd at the gate as it danced for everyone before boarding.
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“A lot of people came, took videos and had their kids come and give it high-fives,” Eily Ben-Abraham, an employee with Elite Event Robotics of Dallas, Texas, told Fox News Digital. Elite Event Robotics rents out interactive robots for events.
The delay in the flight stemmed from an issue with the robot’s battery — which exceeded airline limits, the company said.
The situation began when the team realized the robot, together with its case, exceeded the airline’s 100-pound carry-on limit, said Ben-Abraham.
As a last resort, the robot’s handler asked if the robot could have its own seat, he said.
“They all concluded that it would be possible and had it registered as a spot for an inanimate object,” Ben-Abraham said, noting that anyone can technically purchase an extra seat.
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But after boarding, airline staff raised concerns about the battery — leading to a delay of about an hour.
At the airline’s request, Ben-Abraham removed the battery from the robot, he recounted.
“I was told to be in touch with the confiscation department,” he said.
The robot had been successfully transported on an earlier flight from Dallas to Oakland — but now there were complications on the leg to San Diego. Bebop was also expected at an event in Chicago later that weekend — so getting the battery to that city became a bit of an ordeal for the employee.
“He’s still the main attraction wherever he lands.”
“We have family in California that was able to drive over five hours north and [then] overnight it to a hotel in Chicago,” Ben-Abraham said.
Responding to outreach from Fox News Digital, Southwest Airlines confirmed in a statement that a customer on Flight 1568 had “purchased a seat for a device. The device’s lithium battery exceeded the maximum allowable size, so the customer was asked to remove it.”
The airline added, “We appreciate the professionalism of our flight crew in addressing this situation. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
Elite Event Robotics discussed the delay in a social media post after the incident.
“Delayed … but worth the wait,” the company wrote on Instagram. “Bebop finally made it on board, and safe to say he’s still the main attraction wherever he lands.”
Lithium batteries are tightly regulated on flights due to fire risk concerns, with strict limits on size and how they can be transported, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
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Online reactions to the incident ranged from confusion to humor.
Some people questioned how the situation was handled — with one commenter saying the idea seemed to outweigh the planning behind it.
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Others questioned whether the robot should have been treated as a passenger at all.
“That’s not a passenger, that’s freight,” one user wrote.
Fox News Digital previously reported that airlines are experimenting with robotic technology in other parts of the travel experience, including baggage handling.
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Japan Airlines recently began testing humanoid robots to assist with luggage at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, though early demonstrations suggested the technology still has limitations.
Matthew Reigle of OutKick contributed reporting.
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