October 1, 2026 – Airport facilities directors who are considering investing in cleaning robots may be interested to learn that SoftBank Robotics America and Flagship Aviation Services recently announced the continued expansion of their strategic partnership, deploying autonomous floor care programs across major U.S. airports. Since establishing the partnership in 2024, Flagship has grown its program from 100 autonomous cleaning robots across 15 locations to more than 200 robots across 25 locations, in under two years.
The expanded program has surpassed 100,000 operating hours and is approaching 500 million square feet cleaned. The autonomous fleet now cleans nearly one million square feet per day on average, supporting consistent, high-quality floor care across medium, large, and mega airport environments and enabling operational teams to direct their attention to higher value tasks that require human judgment and care.
Todd Jacobs, Chief Operating Officer, Flagship, stated:
Our people remain at the heart of everything we do. Autonomous cleaning is a tool that helps our teams work more efficiently, so they can spend more time delivering exceptional passenger experiences. [And] SoftBank Robotics America continues to do what it says it will do; we know we can trust them, and that is critical for our business success.
A scalable model for complex airport operations
Airports are among the most demanding environments for cleaning with high passenger volumes, expansive floor areas, limited cleaning windows, and continuously changing traffic patterns. Flagship’s program leverages the full portfolio of cleaning robots from SoftBank Robotics America. This provides program flexibility enabling sweeping, scrubbing, mopping of hard floors, and vacuuming of carpets across a variety of environments, configurations, and floor sizes.
The robots can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and safely clean alongside travelers, including during peak periods. This enables Flagship teams to maintain consistent, high-quality standards of cleanliness to meet standard operating procedures (SOPs) while focusing their expertise on restrooms, gates and other areas that require human judgment and care.
Jeff Williams, Director of Automation and Technology, Flagship, remarked:
With a 9x increase in operating hours and daily floor cleaning coverage of nearly one million square feet, this program demonstrates the productivity and operational effectiveness that autonomous solutions can deliver. Our trusted partnership with SoftBank Robotics America has enabled us to safely introduce the latest technology and constantly optimize our operations to keep up with dynamically changing airport environments. The robots demonstrate daily that the airport has a commitment to high standards of cleanliness and customer care.
Innovation that supports the passenger experience
Flagship-supported airports have received recognition from J.D. Power, Skytrax, ISSA (The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association), and Airports Council International. In the J.D. Power 2025 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, 16 Flagship-supported airports were recognized across the medium, large, and mega airport categories, including eight airports ranked among the top five in their respective categories. Seven Flagship-supported airports were named among the Top 100 Airports in the World in the 2026 Skytrax World Airport Awards and five North American airports were honored in the ACI-ASQ awards.
Flagship has also helped pilot emerging technologies and expand real-world use cases. Its autonomous portfolio has grown to include newer solutions such as Omnie and the next-generation V40, with additional technology evaluations planned as operational needs evolve.
Brady Watkins, President and General Manager, SoftBank Robotics America, explained:
At SoftBank Robotics America, we provide custom solutions that fit a new operating model designed for humans and technology. We leverage over a decade of learning, experimentation, and real-world use plus our inside track to technology innovation across our group to integrate autonomous solutions that are proven to deliver business value at scale. We partner to understand a customer’s operational model and business goals and source the most appropriate technology to deliver the right solution with the best economic value.
COO Jacobs of Flagship summarized:
The winning combination is a culture built around customer service and experience, together with a strategic partner that helps us innovate, streamline operations, and deliver optimized facility performance for our customers. We are also exploring opportunities such as smart restrooms, facility security, and other solutions that can further improve service delivery and passenger experience.
Read the full success story at SoftBank Robotics: Flagship Aviation Services, LLC, Flies High with Consistent Quality Cleanliness Standards Across Major U.S. Airports.
SoftBank Robotics America is the North American arm of SoftBank Robotics, driving technology forward by becoming a worldwide leader in robotics solutions. Headquartered in San Francisco, SoftBank Robotics America is a trusted partner and Robot Integrator that helps clients realize maximum strategic value on investment in robotics. SoftBank Robotics America brings value and relevancy to senior living, hospitality, aviation, class A office space, multi-family, education, facilities management, and commercial cleaning.
SoftBank Robotics Group has been at the forefront of robotics technology development since the launch of its humanoid robot “Pepper” in 2014. The group has consistently introduced innovation, including autonomous cleaning robots in 2018, multi-tray delivery robots in 2021, and automated logistics solutions consulting in 2022, and plays a pioneering role as a Robot Integrator. With a global presence in 21 locations across 9 countries, SoftBank Robotics’ robots are deployed worldwide.
Flagship Facility Services is a facilities maintenance company headquartered in Southlake, Texas. In operation for 35 years, Flagship now provides holistic solutions to more than 1,800 client locations across the U.S. and Canada.
