Southwest Airlines launches booking plugin in ChatGPT
The tool developed with OpenAI and AWS lets travelers search and shop for flights directly.
Southwest Airlines launched a ChatGPT plugin on Oct. 6, 2026. The integration makes it the first U.S. airline to offer a tool inside the chatbot, enabling users to discover destinations and shop for flights directly.
The release is the first phase of an artificial intelligence booking strategy developed alongside OpenAI and Amazon Web Services. Southwest plans to use the cloud and AI infrastructure to add further capabilities over time.
Customers are evolving how they plan their travel, and Southwest is helping to shape what comes next. It is a meaningful example of how we test and learn with AI innovation to continue the Customer-first approach that defines our brand.
Lauren Woods, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Southwest, stated that establishing a secure and scalable foundation allows the carrier to deploy new features more quickly.
The carrier operates across 120 airports in 12 countries and transported more than 134 million passengers in 2025. It employed more than 73,000 full-time equivalent active workers as of June 30, 2026.
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