Delta Airlines on Thursday said it has not used artificial intelligence to set prices for flights following criticism from congressional lawmakers.
In a letter to Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner and Richard Blumenthal, the Atlanta-based carrier said its ticket prices "are dictated by market dynamics and vigorous competition."
"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 letter states. "Our ticket pricing never takes into account personal data."
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The airline noted that it is evaluating AI-based revenue management technology developed by Fetcherr, an AI pricing company, "to assist our analysts with pricing by reducing manual processes, accelerating analysis and improving time to market for pricing adjustments."
AI is being used and tested via a pilot program with Fetcherr to forecast demand for certain routes and flights, aggregating purchasing date for specific routes and flights and adapting to new market conditions, the carrier said.
Friday's letter was in response to the lawmakers' saying last week that they believe Delta would use AI to set individual prices, which could result in fare increases.
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The senators cited a comment in December by Delta President Glen Hauenstein that the carrier's AI price-setting technology is capable of setting fares based on a prediction of "the amount people are willing to pay for the premium products related to the base fares," Reuters reported.
Last week, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said using AI to set ticket prices could hurt consumer trust.
"This is not about bait and switch. This is not about tricking," Isom said on an earnings call, Reuters reported, adding "talk about using AI in that way, I don't think it's appropriate. And certainly from American, it's not something we will do."
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Delta said it was evaluating AI to enhance parts of its business, such as answering complex questions from customers and improving resolution times, as well as assisting in the crew scheduling.
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