How AI is elevating airline passenger experience

AI may be more prevalent, not just in passenger experience but in daily life, yet major trust barriers remain for most consumers.

A 2026 Quinnipiac University poll of 1,397 adults nationwide found that 80% were either very concerned (38%) or somewhat concerned (42%) about AI, while just 8% said they weren’t concerned at all. The level of unease was consistent across all age groups, from Gen Z to the Silent Generation.

In addition, 51% of Americans said the pace of AI development is moving faster than they expected. And when asked how often they think they can trust AI-generated information, 49% said “only some of the time” and 27% said “hardly ever.” Those findings were similar to a Quinnipiac poll done a year prior.

Research from Avaya paints a similar picture: After peaking at 62% in 2023, consumer trust in AI fell to 59% in 2025, and those who think AI is “very untrustworthy” jumped from 5% to 12% over the last two years.

Customers want transparency and security. Most (87%) feel businesses should disclose when AI is being used in an interaction and 81% feel AI could be abused to obtain personal data without their consent, Avaya found.

Nearly all consumers, or 90%, believe they should have access to a real person if they choose not to interact with AI, according to Avaya – underlying the need for a balanced AI-and-human approach.

AI has great potential here because it can process multiple variables (like available flights, loyalty status, hotel availability, and weather forecasts), generate optimal solutions quickly, and execute rebooking across systems. When airlines delegate these tasks to AI, human associates are freed up to focus on what really matters to passengers, things like empathy and judgment calls.