Delta Air Lines among companies FTC investigating for potential price-setting using AI

The Federal Trade Commission announced it had launched an inquiry into nine companies, including Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, over how they set prices for their customers.

According to the FTC, they are seeking data from Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash and Instacart, which announced a $17 billion merger on Thursday, Target and Walmart.

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In the announcement, published Wednesday, the FTC said it had ordered the companies to “provide detailed information that will allow the agency to study the use of personal data to set prices and compensation.”

The orders for data to be turned over include a 45-day deadline from receipt of the order, meaning companies must respond by providing the data or working to contest it in court by Dec. 12.

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The FTC is working to determine if pricing for plane tickets, ride share costs, food delivery costs or other product services varies based on participation in loyalty programs or other personal data “by superintelligence algorithms.”

Superintelligence is the term now being used by the federal government for what is more popularly known as artificial intelligence, more commonly AI, that was put into parlance at the discretion of President Donald Trump.

The president first announced this shift in federally-used terminology while speaking at the United Nations in September, with an official executive order following it.

“We intend to scrutinize the opaque methodology that some companies in these industries may be using to determine how much consumers pay or how much gig workers are paid for the same product or service,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer. Workers also deserve to know if their compensation is affected by how companies use their personal data.”

The FTC said that if a company fails to turn the required information over to it, the commission will use its power to compel compliance in federal court.

The news of the inquiry follows an FTC-issued “study on personalized pricing in mid-2024 and released staff findings days before President Donald J. Trump took office.”

However, the FTC said that study only examined what it called middlemen consultancies, not companies like Delta and the others named in the inquiry “that actually set prices for services and products offered to consumers.”

In response to a request for comment for Channel 2 Action News, Delta referred back to a 2025 statement on the topic, saying it was not a pricing strategy the company used.

“There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal data. We have zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing and fully comply with applicable privacy, pricing, and advertising laws,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement.

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