text: In a first, a robot boarded a commercial airline flight at Los Angeles International Airport. Called "Athena," she's clearly a discerning robot — she's flying Lufthansa. 
   
   Athena was accompanied by two scientists who are transporting her to Germany. 
   
   It is not uncommon for travelers with precious cargo to pay for an extra seat to be sure that they can carry it on the plane. Most of that equipment doesn't have a humanoid face, though. 
   
   "Athena" is checking in for her seat aboard @lufthansa on her way to Germany! [PIC]. Have you seen her yet? pic.twitter.com/6pYHiQLC9a — LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 15, 2014 
   
   "Athena" will be accompanied by scientists. A “humanoid” robot has a head, arms, & legs. Photos to come when she arrives at LAX to check-in! — LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 15, 2014 
   
   Athena's ride in the main cabin of the aircraft is not really different from that of a musical instrument or other professional equipment. 
   
   Mary Grady, the managing director at LA World Airports, tweeted photos of Athena going through security. 
   
   "Athena" the Humanoid Robot flys out of LAX. Off To Germany to learn to walk. pic.twitter.com/Ngxgk0jLIB — Mary Grady (@MGradyPIO) December 15, 2014 
   
   This is the first time a robot has flown as a paid passenger on a commercial jet, according to the airport. And if airlines have any say in it, it likely won't be the last. 
   
   Can you think of a better passenger than a robot? 
   
   Robots don't complain about legroom, don't kick the seat in front of them (or find use for a knee defender), and don't find it unconscionable that even a soda can cost $2 aboard some flights. ||||| Alexander Herzog, a doctoral student at Max Planck Society, pushes 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
   
   Alexander Herzog (L) and Jeannette Bohg, doctoral student and senior research scientist at Max Planck Society respectively, push 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
   
   Alexander Herzog, a doctoral student at Max Planck Society, pushes 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
   
   LOS ANGELES A humanoid robot with a head, hands and feet and wearing stylish red sneakers boarded a flight for Germany at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, becoming what was billed as the first robot traveling as a paid passenger on an airline. 
   
   The robot, named Athena, created a scene at the Tom Bradley International Terminal as she was pushed in a wheelchair up to the Lufthansa counter to pick up her ticket to Frankfurt. Television crews swarmed, camera flashes went off and people aimed their cell-phone cameras at her, exclaiming: “It’s a robot!” 
   
   Built by the Salt Lake City engineering and robotics company Sarcos, Athena was purchased by Germany’s Max Planck Society, which along with researchers at the University of Southern California are trying to make her perform tasks too dangerous for humans, such as cleanup after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan. 
   
   "We don’t want humans to go there and sacrifice their lives," said Max Planck doctoral student Alexander Herzog, who was pushing Athena through the airport. "I would like to have a robot achieve the same task, such as opening up doors and cleaning up." 
   
   Right now, Athena can do little more than sit and bask in attention. The software to make her legs move and stand is still in the works, though her arms can operate and her mouth glows blue on a white head fitted with cameras and sensors. 
   
   She got an economy ticket but still enjoyed special treatment, including a cut to the front of the ticket line in the first-class lane. 
   
   And while Athena did not have to go through the regular metal detector, the Transportation Security Administration had a special electronic pat-down awaiting, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Suey Castles. “TSA didn’t want us to say what it was,” she said. 
   
   As for the flight, Athena was strapped into a seat like a regular passenger, but was put in the off position, accompanied all the way to her new laboratory home in Germany by Herzog and Jeannette Bohg, senior research scientist at the Max Planck Society. 
   
   Representatives for Lufthansa could not be reached for comment. 
   
   Athena could have been shipped in a big box like any other electronic gear, but the scientists "wanted to see how humans responded to a robot sitting in a plane," said Castles. 
   
   Plus, added Herzog, "It’s cheaper to get a seat." 
   
   (Reporting by Michael Fleeman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Mohammad Zargham)
target: – No danger of this passenger experiencing an episode of nut rage: In what Los Angeles International Airport says is an aviation first, a robot traveled as a paying passenger on Monday, sitting in an economy-class seat of its own on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany, Reuters reports. "Athena," a US-made humanoid robot, was pushed through the airport in a wheelchair by two German researchers who plan to teach it to walk—and, eventually, to perform dangerous tasks like the nuclear cleanup at Fukushima. For now, she can't do much more than move her arms. An airport spokeswoman says the red-sneaker-clad Athena could have made the overseas voyage in a box, but the scientists "wanted to see how humans responded to a robot sitting in a plane." It is fairly common for people with precious cargo to buy a plane seat for it, but "most of that equipment doesn't have a humanoid face," Mashable notes. It doesn't always get special perks, either: Athena didn't have to submit to the metal detector (she got a special pat-down) and got to cut to the front of the boarding line—the first-class one at that.