Delta AI pricing is the subject of a letter President Peter Carter sent to Rep. Frank Pallone, in which Delta says its airfare recommendation tool uses aggregated demand and route-level market information, not customers’ personal data, to assist human analysts. The Sept. 9 letter rejects the use of individualized “surveillance pricing” and describes the airline’s pricing factors, AI safeguards and fare programs.
Does AI pricing mean a personal fare?
Delta says no: its tool recommends fares using route and market demand, while analysts retain oversight. That is the airline’s account, not an independent audit. A fare changing between searches does not, by itself, establish that personal data caused the change; seat availability and market demand are among the factors Delta lists.
The letter does not establish whether the pilot raised or lowered average fares, or provide results for specific routes. Keep that separate from advertised promotions, such as the Delta Seattle and Alaska flight offers, which have their own eligibility and booking terms.
What Delta told Rep. Pallone
Carter sent the letter on Sept. 9, 2026, in response to an Aug. 11 letter from Pallone about concerns over AI-assisted “surveillance pricing” across consumer industries, including airlines. Delta said Pallone’s questions presupposed that the company uses surveillance or individualized pricing. Because Delta says it does not engage in that practice, Carter explained that the letter would address the subject thematically and through principles, rather than answer each question in turn.
Delta’s central assertion is that it has never used, is not testing and does not plan to use a fare product that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data. The company also said it has zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing and complies with applicable privacy, pricing and advertising laws. These are Delta’s statements in its letter, not independently verified findings. The announcement does not reproduce Pallone’s questions or provide an outside assessment of the company’s claims.
Delta said its comments should be considered alongside an Aug. 25, 2026, Airlines for America (A4A) industry submission about how U.S. airlines competitively price travel. The airline cited A4A’s submission, but its own statement does not reproduce that document in full.
How Delta says airfares are set
Delta described ticket prices as responses to changing market conditions, demand and competition, rather than individual customer surveillance. It listed demand for a particular flight or route; the availability of seats and fare classes; competing schedules and market offers; historical and forecast demand; and operating costs as pricing considerations. The cost examples included fuel, labor, airport charges and other inputs.
That distinction is central to Delta’s argument: it says its pricing decisions use information about flights, routes and markets, not personal information about a customer. The letter does not provide examples of specific fare changes or quantify how much any one factor affects a ticket price.
AI tool supports analysts, Delta says
Delta said it has piloted a generative AI pricing recommendation tool in domestic and international test markets. The company describes it as decision support for its analysts, intended to reduce manual work, accelerate analysis and shorten the time needed to bring a fare adjustment to market. Delta said analysts continue to use their expertise and experience to set competitive fares; it did not describe the system as replacing them.
The letter presents scale as one reason for using such technology: Delta said tens of millions of fares and hundreds of thousands of routes are for sale at any given time. Under the tool agreement, the company said, only route-level demand and market data are provided to support Delta’s dedicated private deployment. Delta said it does not provide the tool with customers’ personal information and that fares it files do not take personal data into account.
Delta described the tool’s data uses as aggregating purchasing behavior and forecasting demand for specific routes and flights, adapting to new market conditions, considering thousands of variables at once and learning from pricing decisions to improve future outcomes. The statement does not identify the domestic or international test markets, give a pilot timeline or report measured results.
Governance, privacy and human oversight
Delta said every AI tool is assessed under a proprietary governance framework that evaluates and mitigates privacy and security risks. The company said that framework prohibits using personal data in ticket pricing. For the pricing tool specifically, Delta described analyst oversight through governance processes, monitoring and the ability to intervene.
The letter also points customers to Delta’s Privacy Policy for information on how the airline uses, stores and discloses personal information when people interact with the company, including through Delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Delta said it provides AI terms of use and discloses when customers are interacting with AI-powered services. Its examples were Delta.com search functionality and the beta launch of Delta Concierge, a virtual assistant in the app.
Delta said it evaluates AI use cases for compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements and cited federal, state and international antitrust, privacy and consumer-protection laws. Examples in the letter include the Department of Transportation’s rules on unfair and deceptive practices, the California Consumer Privacy Act and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Loyalty and eligibility-based fares
Delta said SkyMiles membership is designed to reward customers for choosing the airline, not to determine or personalize the airfare they pay. The benefits it cited include earning and redeeming miles, waived bag fees, SkyMiles discounts, free Wi-Fi, lounge access and other travel experiences. Delta said it may use anonymized, aggregated insights to understand broad customer preferences and improve program offerings, but said those insights do not use protected-class demographics or individual consumer data to set individualized ticket prices.
The airline also cited medical-emergency and bereavement fares available to SkyMiles members. Separately, Delta said it offers discounted fares and benefits to active U.S. military members and their dependents, and participates in the City Pair Program, which provides special rates and benefits for federal employees. Delta characterized these offers as relying on transparent eligibility criteria, rather than inferences from personal data. It also said it occasionally offers promotional prices available to all travelers, regardless of loyalty status.
Delta’s earlier response and stated concern
Delta said it publicly condemned assertions about surveillance pricing in July 2025 and presented Carter’s letter as a further effort to address the issue. The airline said it shares the goal of ensuring consumers can trust how airfares are set, while expressing concern that continued claims about airline pricing could have unintended effects on consumer sentiment and trust.
In closing, Carter characterized the tool’s purpose as improving the efficiency and responsiveness of fare management while preserving customer trust. The source includes the company’s account of its pricing practices, but not the underlying congressional questions, detailed pilot results or independent evidence about the tool’s operation.
Source: Delta News Hub.
