American Airlines’ AURA automated rebooking system, expanded in 2026 to cover six major hubs, has been predicting which connecting passengers will miss their flights and reassigning their seats to later departures before they reach the gate — even when travelers still arrive in time to board. The system operates with full autonomous authority and no human-in-the-loop override, leaving gate agents unable to reverse its decisions on the spot. Multiple travelers, including a Washington Post columnist, reported sprinting to their gate on time only to find their seat already given away, forcing calls to customer service to undo the AI’s rebooking.