(NewsNation) — Delta Airlines has refuted claims it’s using AI to set personalized ticket prices, telling lawmakers they have never and will never use such a system.
“There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data,” the airline said in a letter to lawmakers Friday, according to Reuters.
The response comes after Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Richard Blumenthal raised concerns over Delta’s partnership with Israeli AI pricing company Fetcherr.
In a letter to the CEO of Delta, Ed Bastian, on July 21, the lawmakers expressed major concerns regarding plans to “deploy AI-based revenue management technology across 20 percent of its domestic network by the end of 2025.”
“Delta’s current and planned individualized pricing practices not only present data privacy concerns, but will also likely mean fare price increases up to each individual consumer’s personal ‘pain point’ at a time when American families are already struggling with rising cost,” the senators wrote.
The scrutiny follows mounting concerns over comments made by Delta President Glen Hauenstein at an investor conference in December 2023, where he said the technology could set fares based on “the amount people are willing to pay for the premium products related to the base fares.”
Additionally, the Fetcherr website features a testimonial from Haunstein in which he praises the “amazingly favorable units revenue.”
“The initial results show amazingly favorable units revenue, versus the beta, so we are all in on this,” he said.