Delta Air Lines, a titan in the aviation industry, is igniting a firestorm with its latest move to deploy AI for ticket pricing.
According to the Daily Mail, this controversy, centered on America’s second-largest airline by daily flights, involves an expanded pilot program with Fetcherr to set fares using artificial intelligence, raising alarms over potential predatory pricing and the erosion of fair market practices.
Delta has been testing this AI tool to forecast demand and adjust prices in real time, accounting for thousands of market variables.
The airline plans to have 20 percent of its fares determined by this technology by year’s end.
Critics, including Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, and Richard Blumenthal, have questioned Delta CEO Ed Bastian, asking if the AI targets each passenger’s personal “pain point” for higher fares.
Delta insists it’s not using personal data to single out customers, claiming all passengers see identical fares across retail channels.
Consumer advocates aren’t buying it, warning that this AI program could usher in predatory pricing and spell the end of equitable fare structures.
Historically, airlines have varied prices based on booking timing or platform, but AI accelerates these shifts dramatically.
If successful, Delta could eventually hand over nearly all pricing decisions to this system, a move that raises serious questions about transparency and consumer choice.
The airline maintains that dynamic pricing isn’t new—it’s been standard for decades. Delta’s president, Glen Hauenstein, emphasized during a June earnings call, “This is a full reengineering of how we price.”
He also assured that the AI remains in a “heavy testing phase,” and the airline won’t rush deployment if issues emerge.
Alongside this pricing news, Delta updated its profit forecast after exceeding Wall Street’s second-quarter expectations.
Earlier, in April, the airline had withdrawn financial guidance due to economic uncertainty in the U.S., only to reinstate it now.
Despite a 5 percent drop in domestic economy seat sales last quarter and planned cuts to some domestic flights in August, Delta seems confident—but at what cost to passengers?