Airlines worldwide are adopting chatbots to improve customer service, but adoption rates are uneven. According to our survey of 50 top airlines globally, 32% of airlines had no visible chat feature at the time this survey was conducted. Among those with chatbots, exactly half feature them directly on their homepage meaning that only 34% of airlines overall offered prominent chatbot access. This cautious approach suggests lingering uncertainty about fully embracing AI solutions.
U.S. Airlines Choose Caution
Major U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, Delta, and United, have opted to play it safe. Rather than highlighting their chatbots on their homepages, these airlines bury them in contact pages. This cautious stance likely stems from recent negative experiences, such as Air Canada’s chatbot mishap, which misinformed a passenger about regarding bereavement fares. This lead to a lawsuit and and generated considerable negative publicity.
Additionally, U.S. airlines typically use conservative chatbot integrations. Providers like ASAPP (used by American and JetBlue) and Liveperson (used by Delta and United) promote AI features, but in practicality, the bots still function with rules-based logic and struggle with open ended questions.
Global Leaders in AI Innovation
In contrast, international airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, Korean Air, and Pegasus Airlines are pushing AI boundaries. IndiGo and Air India, working closely with Microsoft, have built more sophisticated generative AI chatbots capable of providing more accurate and interactive customer support.
Korean Airlines has partnered with Amazon to fully reimagine its customer service operations with AI and has one of the more sophisticated chatbots, though has been tight lipped about results. Meanwhile, leading Indian airlines are highlighting some impressive metrics:
IndiGo’s AI Chatbot: 6Eskai
In November 2023, IndiGo introduced 6Eskai, an AI-enabled chatbot powered by GPT-4 technology. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, 6Eskai addresses customer queries in 10 languages and facilitates tasks such as flight bookings, web check-ins, and baggage inquiries. The airline claims its chatbot’s advanced capabilities have resulted in a 75% reduction in customer service agent workload, streamlining operations and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Air India’s AI Chatbot: AI.g
Air India launched its generative AI-powered virtual assistant, AI.g, in May 2023. Developed using Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, AI.g handles approximately 30,000 customer queries daily across 1,300 topics, including flight status, baggage allowances, and check-in procedures. The chatbot supports multiple languages—Hindi, English, French, and German. The airline claims to have achieved a 97% automation rate in handling customer interactions with the chatbot, significantly reducing the need for human intervention, according to Microsoft.
Other airlines, include Easy Jet, Iberia, Frontier, Korean and Vueling, partner with tech providers like Google, Amazon, Eva Bot and Cognigy to enhance chatbot capabilities, signaling a commitment to innovation and customization.
Ongoing Limitations
Despite technological progress, the survey found that nearly all airline chatbots still struggle to handle basic queries, such as straightforward questions about baggage fees. The limited response capabilities likely reflect a conservative approach to reduce any possibility of hallucination.
Recent controversies, such as Air Canada’s chatbot mishap, have understandably increased caution among airlines wary of potential negative publicity.
The varied approach among airlines indicates differing strategies and confidence levels regarding chatbot integration. As AI continues to reshape customer interactions, airlines remain carefully strategic in adopting chatbot technology.
Here is our full survey on 50 top airlines, ranked based on daily flight volume:
| Airline | On homepage? | On contact page? | Powered by |
| American Airlines | No | Yes | ASAPP |
| Delta Air Lines | No | Yes | Liveperson |
| United Airlines | No | Yes | Liveperson |
| Ryanair | No | Yes | Zendesk |
| Southwest Airlines | No | Yes | Salesforce |
| IndiGo | Yes | Yes | In house/Microsoft |
| China Southern Airlines | No | No | NA |
| Air China | No | No | NA |
| LATAM Airlines | No | No | NA |
| easyJet | No | Yes | Google Dialogflow |
| ANA | No | Yes | Pksha tech |
| Turkish Airlines | No | Yes | Microsoft |
| Air Canada | No | No | NA |
| Azul | Yes | Yes | Liveperson |
| JAL | No | Yes | Pksha tech |
| Lufthansa | No | No | NA |
| Air India | Yes | Yes | In house/Microsoft |
| Qantas | No | No | NA |
| Xiamen Airlines | No | No | NA |
| AVIANCA | Yes | Yes | Zendesk |
| JetBlue Airways | No | Yes | ASAPP |
| Aeroflot | Yes | Yes | LiveTex |
| KLM | No | No | NA |
| British Airways | No | Yes | Salesforce |
| Alaska Airlines | No | No | NA |
| Air France | No | No | NA |
| Gol | Yes | Yes | Zendesk |
| Spirit Airlines | No | Yes | Quiq |
| Iberia | Yes | Yes | EVA Bot |
| AirAsia | Yes | Yes | ADA Support |
| Spring Airlines | No | No | NA |
| Pegasus | Yes | Yes | In house/unknown |
| Vueling | Yes | Yes | Cognigy |
| Emirates | No | Yes | Azure AI Bot |
| Qatar Airways | No | No | NA |
| Saudia | Yes | Yes | In house/Microsoft |
| Scandinavian Airlines | No | Yes | Netomi |
| VivaAerobus | No | No | NA |
| Aeromexico | Yes | Yes | Sprinklr |
| Air New Zealand | Yes | Yes | Microsoft |
| Ethiopian Airlines | No | No | NA |
| Volaris | No | No | NA |
| WestJet | No | Yes | Genesys |
| VietJet Air | Yes | Yes | Worldfone |
| Vietnam Airlines | Yes | Yes | FPT AI |
| Korean Air | Yes | Yes | In house/Amazon |
| Virgin Atlantic | No | No | NA |
| Frontier Airlines | No | Yes | Cognigy |
| Jetstar | Yes | Yes | Nuance/Microsoft |
| Wizz Air | No | Yes | Hubtype |