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FTC seeks answers from Delta about how it sets flight prices

Delta Air Lines Airbus A319
Delta Airlines FILE PHOTO: (Markus Mainka/Markus Mainka - stock.adobe.com)

ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is among nine companies ordered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide information about how they use customer and employee data to determine prices and wages.

The agency is examining whether companies use personal information to adjust prices for individual customers, a practice known as surveillance pricing.

The FTC is seeking information about whether Delta’s ticket prices vary based on factors such as customer purchasing habits, loyalty program participation and artificial intelligence algorithms.

Federal officials are also reviewing whether the airline uses employees’ personal data to determine compensation.

In a statement issued last year, Delta said it has “zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing.”

Other companies included in the FTC’s order are United Airlines, JetBlue, Walmart, Target, DoorDash and Instacart.

Delta will have 45 days to respond after receiving the order.

The information collected will help the FTC determine whether the companies are using personal data to set individualized prices or wages.

WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Cheryl Castro contributed to this story.