Airline Lobby Backs Ban on Surveillance Pricing — While Insisting No Airline Does It

Key Points

• Airlines for America, representing major U.S. carriers, supports a ban on surveillance pricing and insists its members do not use personal data to set fares.
• Delta faced scrutiny after revealing its partnership with AI startup Fetcherr for dynamic airfare pricing, prompting concerns about potential customer-specific pricing.
• Both Delta and Fetcherr deny using personal or identifiable data in fare-setting, and the issue has sparked legislative interest and industry debate.

Summary

Airlines for America, which represents most major U.S. airlines, has voiced support for banning surveillance pricing—the practice of using personal data to set individualized airfares—while emphasizing that none of its members engage in this approach. This comes amid heightened scrutiny following Delta's partnership with AI startup Fetcherr to help price fares, raising concerns among lawmakers and competitors about the potential for personalized pricing. Both Delta and Fetcherr assert that their AI systems do not use personal or identifiable information, and the controversy has led to calls for new legislation to regulate such practices.