Budget airline's AI-first support draws dozens of FTC complaints

June 2026 — Norse Atlantic runs its customer service through an AI agent and offers no phone number. Here's what launched, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of June 1, 2026)

Complaints: about 75 FTC complaints; of 41 with a dollar figure, 21 claimed losses over $1,000. (WIRED)
Automation: Norse says Freya handles "99 percent of inquiries." (WIRED)
Cost: not disclosed.

What launched

Norse used a Sprinklr tool early on to build a "unified" inbox, WIRED reported, and archives of its website suggest it never listed a customer service number. In January 2025, the AI company Kindly wrote that it had built Norse a chatbot called Odin, and that Norse removed its support email so Odin would be the "primary support channel."

By January 2026, Norse had replaced Odin with Freya. Delight.ai says Norse sunset the old chatbot and went live with Freya "in less than two months," and that containment rose from 60% to 80%. Norse created a new job, AI agent manager, to train and supervise it. "Freya became a core part of the team," chief product officer Alf Lim said in Delight.ai's story.

Norse's leadership has tied technology to cost. In 2024, then-CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen told an earnings call that investment in technology "gives a very quick payback, both in terms of reducing cost and in terms of revenues," WIRED reported.

"Technology will help us have a higher level of availability and customer support, while still maintaining low fares," Bård Nordhagen, Norse's chief customer and communications officer, told WIRED.

What customers told the FTC

WIRED's reporter, whose own flights were canceled, filed a records request and received around 75 complaints. Eighteen said the person was scammed after Googling Norse's customer service details and landing on fake sites or numbers.

One couple found an unidentified charge of $1,258.88 after calling such a number. "We are 72 and 79 years old [we] are scared," they wrote. When WIRED searched for a Norse phone number, Yelp pages listed two numbers that appear to be scams. A man on one claimed to represent Star Alliance, which told WIRED the number isn't its own and Norse isn't a member.

A Los Angeles customer denied boarding in Rome wrote that "the airline has no live customer service or phone line."

Consumer Rescue reported in March 2026 that a customer chasing a $690 refund joined a Facebook group she thought was Norse's. Scammers running it took $5,100 from her bank account.

"Served up on a silver platter to the scammers," is how Erie Meyer, a former FTC chief technologist, described customers to WIRED. The FTC said it "can't comment on specific companies or practices."

The reporter got her own refund by emailing Nordhagen directly. It was confirmed within an hour.

The cost pressure

In May 2026, Norse said its Project Falcon program would cut costs by up to $50 million against 2025 and eliminate about 75 administrative positions, around 35% of administrative staff. It is moving its head office to Oslo. WIRED reported that CEO Eivind Roald said the airline is considering a sale or merger.

What went wrong

No phone line. Customers who wanted a person went looking for a number, and some found scammers. Norse does have human customer service workers, WIRED reported; the reporter got her own refund by emailing a Norse executive.
What we don't know yet: how many of Freya's conversations end with the problem fixed, whether Norse plans a phone line, and whether any regulator is looking at the complaints.

Our follow-up question for Norse Atlantic

Will Norse publish an official phone number or human contact route so customers stop finding fake ones?

Sources

WIRED, Caroline Haskins, “Norse Atlantic Airways Offers Dirt-Cheap Tickets. There's a Catch,” June 1, 2026. wired.com
Delight.ai, “Norse Atlantic Airways customer story,” Jan. 28, 2026. delight.ai
Consumer Rescue, Michelle Couch-Friedman, “Fake Norse Atlantic refund Facebook group leads to $5,100 scam,” March 22, 2026. consumerrescue.org
Aviator (Norse Atlantic ASA release), “Norse Atlantic ASA accelerates the Project Falcon program to bring 50M USD in cost reductions,” May 7, 2026. aviator.aero
Sendbird (PR Newswire), “Sendbird Launches Delight.ai, the First Branded AI Concierge Built on Long-Term Memory,” Nov. 18, 2025. prnewswire.com
Sendbird, “About Sendbird” (offices). sendbird.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder