By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of two dozen U.S. House Democratic lawmakers asked Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Wednesday to answer questions about whether it will use generative artificial intelligence to help set ticket prices.
The lawmakers, including Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Dan Goldman, asked Delta in a letter seen by Reuters to disclose whether it will deploy AI to boost prices through “individualized, surveillance-based price discrimination.”
Delta said on Wednesday “there is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise.”
Lawmakers have raised concerns that airlines could use AI, personal data or consumers’ internet usage – for example, visiting a funeral home website – to pinpoint when people most want to travel, and subsequently hike air fares or other prices.
The lawmakers said Delta had not done enough to address concerns when senators raised them in July.
“While Delta claims it has ‘strict safeguards to ensure compliance with federal law,’ it has not explained what those safeguards are,” they wrote.
In August, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said his department would investigate if any airline used AI to set prices.
“We would engage very strongly if any company tries to use AI to individually price their seating,” Duffy said.
Delta had said earlier it plans to deploy AI-based revenue management technology across 20% of its domestic network by the end of 2025 in partnership with Fetcherr, an AI pricing company.
The House letter said Delta President Glen Hauenstein had previously stated that Delta would use generative AI-powered pricing to ensure airfares are tailored to “that flight, on that time, to you, the individual.”
Democratic lawmakers Greg Casar and Rashida Tlaib – who also signed the letter – introduced legislation in July to bar companies from using AI to set prices or wages based on Americans’ personal data and specifically ban airlines from raising individual prices after seeing a search for a family obituary. The legislation is still pending.
Delta said in August in response to senators that airlines have used dynamic pricing for more than three decades, in which pricing fluctuates based on a variety of factors like overall customer demand, fuel prices and competition, but not a specific consumer’s personal information.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nia Williams)
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