Delta says it has never used, tested, or planned to use fares that target individuals with prices based on personal data.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize airline ticket prices, saying on Tuesday that his department would investigate if any business were found doing so.
“Let’s sell prices on seats for what they should go for,” Duffy said in response to a question during a press conference on whether he had any concerns over airlines using AI to dynamically price tickets based on personal data, such as income. “To try to individualize pricing on seats based on how much you make or don’t make or who you are, I can guarantee you that we will investigate if anyone does that.”
Last week, Delta Air Lines told lawmakers that it does not and will not use AI to set prices for individual travelers.
Duffy said, “Delta has clarified that they are not going to do that. I’ll take them at face value and in their clarification, but we would engage very strongly if any company tries to use AI to individually price their seating.”
The Atlanta-based airline said last month it planned to expand its AI dynamic pricing pilot across more of its domestic network. Delta is running the pilot in partnership with Fetcherr, an AI pricing company.
Delta President Glen Hauenstein said during a second-quarter earnings call on July 10 that Fetcherr currently handles 3 percent of its domestic network and that the goal is for that to increase to 20 percent by the end of 2025. He added that Delta was in the “heavy testing phase” with AI, noting, “We’re going to take out time and make sure the rollout is successful.”
On its website, Fetcherr says it is “trusted by the world’s leading airlines,” listing Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Westjet, Viva, and Azul.
Data Privacy Concerns
On July 21, Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) wrote to Delta CEO Ed Bastian to clarify the airline’s plans to expand the use of AI to set individualized fares.
The senators said they believed that AI-based individualized pricing would not only present data privacy concerns but also mean that fare prices would increase up to “each individual consumer’s personal ‘pain point,’ at a time when American families are already struggling with rising costs.”
Delta responded on July 31, saying that the presupposition that the airline would use AI for individualized or “surveillance” pricing, which leverages consumers’ personal data or circumstances, was incorrect.
