Three Democratic senators have urged Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian to respond to inquiries regarding the airline's intention to implement artificial intelligence for ticket pricing, voicing concerns about its potential effects on travelers.
“Delta’s existing and upcoming personalized pricing strategies not only raise issues related to data privacy but are also likely to result in fare increases tailored to each consumer’s individual ‘pain point’ at a time when American families are already facing higher costs," according to Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, and Richard Blumenthal.
The senators referenced recent statements from Delta indicating that the airline intends to introduce AI-driven revenue management technology across 20 percent of its domestic routes by the end of 2025 in collaboration with Fetcherr, a company specializing in AI pricing.
They noted that a Delta executive had previously informed investors that this technology could determine fares based on an assessment of “the amount people are willing to pay for premium products associated with base fares.”
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The airline asserted: “There is no fare product that Delta has ever utilized, is currently testing, or intends to use that directs individualized offers based on personal information or any other means.”
Delta clarified that dynamic pricing has been in practice for over thirty years, where prices vary based on numerous factors like overall customer demand rather than individual consumer data.
The airline stated that it is experimenting with AI technology for dynamic pricing to streamline manual processes while enhancing analysis and adjustments, and it stressed that all customers receive the same fares and offers across all sales channels.
Delta indicated that it is utilizing AI to project demand for specific routes and flights, adjust to real-time market conditions, consider thousands of variables at once, and learn from each pricing decision to better future outcomes.
In January, Blumenthal, along with Senators Maggie Hassan and Josh Hawley, requested that Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines disclose whether they were using customers’ personal data to manipulate seat fees for passengers on the same flight.
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The senators alleged that these airlines appeared to be “using customers’ personal information to impose different seat fees on passengers aboard the same flight” while they had purchased tickets at the same fare.