Delta Air denies ever using AI to set personal pricing

Delta Air Lines has pushed back against US senators expressing concern that the company would use AI to set individual prices.

Delta has stepped forward to clear up how its AI pricing system works after Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, and Richard Blumenthal accused it of implementing individual pricing “up to each individual consumer's personal 'pain point.'"

"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," Delta told the senators in a letter on Friday, seen by Reuters.

“Furthermore, we have zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing and fully comply with applicable laws in privacy, pricing and advertising. Our Al-powered pricing functionality is designed to enhance our existing fare pricing processes using aggregated data.

“This technology is a decision-support tool that simply provides informed insights for our analysts, who oversee and fine-tune the recommendations to ensure they are consistent with our business strategy.”

According to Reuters, Gallego expressed confusion about the data that the carrier is collecting.

"Delta is telling their investors one thing, and then turning around and telling the public another," Gallego said. "If Delta is in fact using aggregated instead of individualized data, that is welcome news."

Questions arose last year, after Delta President Glen Hauenstein made a comment saying that the company’s AI technology may set prices based on a prediction of "the amount people are willing to pay for the premium products related to the base fares."

He added that over the past six months, 3% of domestic flight tickets were priced using the AI pricing system, and the company is hoping to expand the value to 20% by the end of the year.

Critics expressed concern that the company may use its AI system to price tickets based on an individual’s search history or previous purchases.