Delta Airlines AI-Powered Ticket Pricing Under Scrutiny from US Senators, Here is What You Need To Know Now

Published on July 24, 2025

Delta Air Lines increasing use of artificial intelligence to craft its ticket prices has set off alarm bells in Washington. Three Democratic senators — Ruben Gallego (AZ), Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Mark Warner (VA) — have demanded greater transparency from Delta CEO Ed Bastian around the airline’s growing reliance on personalized pricing for airfare that’s generated by artificial intelligence, especially given the implications for data privacy and consumer fairness.

Concerns Over “Surveillance-Based Pricing”

In a letter sent Monday, the senators raised serious concerns about what the lawmakers called “individualized pricing” — a practice based on the way a traveler’s online browsing and purchasing history is used to estimate how much they would be willing to pay. This AI-led system more or less forsakes the notion of valuesets in favor of dynamic real-time, per-consumer pricing, they suggest could be abused.

This strategy will mean fare price increases to each customer’s personal ‘pain point’ at a time when American families are already facing affordability challenges, the senators said. They also pointed to the risks of exploiting vulnerable travelers by using artificial intelligence systems to identify when passengers are in urgent need of travel — say, a family emergency — and raise prices on that basis.

The lawmakers also raised privacy and ethical concerns, arguing that personalized pricing models rely on “vast” consumer data and could ultimately take such data collection and profiling to an unacceptable extreme.

Delta’s Partnership with Fetcherr

At the center of the dispute is Delta’s relationship with Fetcherr, a tech company that specializes in AI-driven pricing and inventory management software. Fetcherr’s software is fueling the airline’s algorithmic pricing platform, which Delta first revealed at its 2023 Investor Day. The system was initially used on only 1% of domestic routes, but that has grown.

On a July 2024 earnings call, Delta President Glen Hauenstein said that already about 3% of domestic fares are priced using AI, with intentions to scale that to 20% by year’s end. Delta remains in a heavy testing phase, according to Hauenstein, who added that the company would rather roll it out slowly rather than move too quickly.

The more data it has and the more cases we give it, the more it learns.

However, the senators remain unconvinced. They posit that AI-generated pricing models —at least when shrouded in mystery — could turn the market from one of demand-driving purchasing to one driven by individual need, vulnerability and therefore susceptibility to economic discrimination.

Demand for Transparency And Safeguards

The senator’s letter asks a crucial question, regarding what data is Delta capturing and what is it feeding into those pricing algorithms

They want answers to a number of questions. These involve the process by which Delta trains its AI model, how many passengers are currently purchasing tickets offered at AI prices, what routes and customer touchpoints on offer — such as app or kiosks — are included in the testing, and what protections exist to prevent unfair and illegal manipulation of the pricing process.

To date, Delta has publicly pledged that its AI pricing strategy is in compliance with federal laws and has safeguards that are tough. But the details of those measures have yet to be released — a void that lawmakers say leaves consumers in the dark and in a position to be exploited.

The letter Asks Delta to reply by Aug 4, 2025

Delta is the first of the large U.S. carriers to publicly acknowledge the use of AI for setting prices on tickets that can change in real time. Now one of the youngest companies in the airline distribution business will be using the same technology in commercial aviation, altering the way fares are set as digital personalization becomes more and more prevalent in businesses such as e-commerce and streaming.

Where traditional dynamic pricing (think taxes, resort fees, fluctuations in demand based on time and availability) relies on time, demand and availability, AI personalization can process all sorts of information, including search history and device type, past travel behavior and even emotional cues inferred from online activity.

Critics say this amount of customization could open the door to price discrimination, the kind of practice, controversial in many industries, where different customers pay wildly different amounts for the same service, not due to availability or timing but based on perceived ability or need to pay.

Broader Implications And Future Oversight

The senators pointed to previous warnings from Lina Khan, former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, that AI could enable airlines to use emotional distress like bereavement to raise their prices. The lawmakers are concerned that Delta’s system could serve as a model, leading other airlines to adopt similar systems without proper regulatory oversight.

As Congress turns a sharper eye toward consumer protection in the age of AI, Delta’s AI-pricing model might end up being a test case for the broader airline industry. Whether Delta’s approach ultimately is considered innovative or invasive may hinge on how transparent it’s willing to be — and how effectively it can demonstrate that data-driven pricing does not mean that fairness and privacy have to be left at the gate.