Qianwen Partners with Eastern Airlines

On April 25, 2026, Qianwen announced a deep collaboration with Eastern Airlines, marking a new phase for AI assistants. This product now offers a complete service loop from ticket inquiry to check-in, and has notably gained access to the airline’s seat selection system. This article analyzes how the seemingly contradictory logic of an “open loop” can perfectly unify B-end integration and C-end experience, revealing the strategic significance of Qianwen’s transformation from a single assistant to a service platform.

With this new feature, users can simply open the Qianwen app and say, “Help me book a ticket to Shanghai for tomorrow, direct flight, window seat,” and it will handle the booking and seat selection.

This is the first time Qianwen’s AI capabilities have been directly integrated with an airline’s system. From inquiry, ticket purchase, seat selection, check-in, to changes and refunds, everything can be done without switching to another app.

The seat selection feature is particularly noteworthy. Users can request a seat with a view, and the AI will avoid rows obstructed by the wing. Alternatively, if traveling with children, users can ask for seats near the restroom to minimize disturbances. Previously, such granular seat selection capabilities were only available through the airline’s own app, making this collaboration a significant milestone.

01

I would like to express my viewpoint in five words: open loop.

These words may sound contradictory. “Open” implies breaking boundaries, allowing anyone to enter, which can lead to fragmented experiences. In contrast, “closed loop” means everything is under control, with boundaries firmly in place. One is outward-facing, while the other is inward-focused, making it seem impossible for both to coexist.

However, Qianwen has achieved this. On the platform side, it has opened up to Eastern Airlines, integrating their flight data, seat selection capabilities, and rules for changes and refunds into Qianwen. In the future, this could extend to other airlines and services. This side is open.

On the user side, nothing has changed. Users can simply open Qianwen, say a command, and their request is fulfilled without needing to switch apps or even know which airline’s system is behind it. This side is a closed loop.

One side is open, while the other is closed. These typically conflicting concepts are happening simultaneously.

I often think of a comparison: Visa cards. Visa itself does not issue cards or process payments. It establishes a standard that any bank can issue Visa cards, and any merchant can accept them. From the user’s perspective, the process is closed-loop—just swipe the card and you’re done. This is the same structure Qianwen is now implementing, and I believe its significance is greater than many realize.

In recent months, discussions about Qianwen have largely focused on its new features—ride-hailing, food delivery, movie tickets, and so on. However, the collaboration with Eastern Airlines is different; it is not just another feature addition.

It signals that Qianwen is willing to open its capabilities to the outside world, which can only happen if the internal system is stable.

What happens next? More partners will likely join. As these services are integrated one by one, Qianwen’s capabilities will expand layer by layer, transforming its position into a core that can be repeatedly accessed.

02

An assistant, no matter how powerful, has a ceiling defined by its own capabilities; a platform’s ceiling is determined by how many people can use it to accomplish tasks. These are fundamentally different concepts. An assistant is yours, while a platform belongs to everyone.

Let me share a historical analogy:

Over a century ago, when Edison invented the light bulb, how was electricity used? Each factory built its own generator and produced its own electricity. Power generation and consumption were tied together. Later, the power grid emerged, separating power generation from consumption. Any power plant could feed electricity into the grid, and any user could plug in and use it without worrying about where the electricity came from.

The power grid itself does not generate or consume electricity; it merely serves as an intermediary layer.

This intermediary layer fundamentally changed how society uses electricity. Factories no longer needed to build their own generators, cities could install streetlights, and households gained access to electricity.

I believe Qianwen is doing something similar. On one side are the service providers; on the other side are the users—you and me; in the middle is Qianwen itself, acting as the intermediary layer and technical solution.

I recall an early promise of the internet: that it would eliminate information asymmetry. Companies like Ctrip and Qunar disrupted travel agencies, solving offline information gaps. Now, when booking tickets, do you feel more confident?

When you see an 800 yuan ticket on another platform, you click it, and after a spin, it might become 900 yuan. While the offline information gap was solved, a new layer of information asymmetry has emerged online.

Qianwen is working to eliminate this information gap. The characteristics of a platform are that it does not compete with users or service providers; it merely connects them. Once this position is established, the possibilities for future developments become vast.

03

Today, Qianwen collaborates with Eastern Airlines, negotiating one-on-one. Engineers sit down, discuss requirements, and integrate systems. This process is not fast.

In the future, Qianwen may open a set of standards. If you are an airline, hotel, or hospital wanting to integrate your services into Qianwen, you could package your offerings according to the standards, upload them, and go live.

This would be similar to how developers create WeChat mini-programs. Once this is established, Qianwen’s capabilities will not grow linearly but exponentially.

The second layer is about service methods. Currently, using Qianwen is still a matter of asking and answering. In the future, this may reverse.

For example, if you book a flight for tomorrow evening at 7 PM, Qianwen knows your home address, the airport’s location, and the traffic conditions. It could proactively inform you at 4 PM that the evening rush hour is worse than usual and suggest leaving at 5 PM. Would you like it to call a car for you?

Or, if you’ve been eyeing a ticket to Shanghai for two days without purchasing, Qianwen could notify you when the price drops, saying it’s now 780 yuan. Would you like to book it?

This proactive service is a new concept—AI no longer waits for you to speak.

The third layer is the furthest one: today, we assess an AI assistant based on what it can do. In two years, that question may become less important.

What will matter more is how many partners can thrive through it and how many users can complete their tasks using it.

The collaboration with Eastern Airlines is a signal of this transformation. While no one can predict exactly where it will lead, the direction is clear. Capability output is one path, an app store is another, and opening up closed-loop services to the outside world is yet another.

All three paths are intriguing and will yield their own innovations worth exploring.