By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) – Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked JetBlue Airways to answer questions about whether it was using customer personal data to set ticket prices after a company social media post sparked concerns.
On Saturday, JetBlue’s X account suggested a customer try clearing their “cache and cookies or booking with an incognito window” after the customer complained about a $230 increase in their ticket price after only one day. The customer said they were trying to “make it to a funeral.”
JetBlue, which did not immediately comment on the letter, told Reuters on Monday the post in response to a customer was made in error and that prices are not determined by cached data or other personal data, but added “fares can change at any moment as seats are purchased or as inventory is adjusted based on demand, and are not guaranteed until a purchase is completed.”
Representative Greg Casar and Senator Ruben Gallego asked JetBlue to answer detailed questions on pricing and added the post “still raises questions about how JetBlue sets prices — specifically, how JetBlue is defining personal data and whether personal data is used in any capacity to inform prices.”
Surveillance pricing is a strategy where companies use a consumer’s personal data — such as browsing history, location and shopping habits — to set individualized, algorithmic prices for products, as opposed to using standard, market-wide pricing.
In November, two dozen House Democratic lawmakers asked Delta Air Lines to answer questions about whether it will use generative AI to help set ticket prices. Delta responded, “there is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal information or otherwise.”
There is bipartisan concern in Congress about the use of AI and surveillance pricing. Last month, the Republican chair of the U.S. House Oversight Committee asked the CEOs of five major travel companies to disclose whether they were using surveillance pricing of consumers to hike costs.
Representative James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, said surveillance pricing may create opportunities “for companies to weaponize personal data and pad their profit margins at the expense of providing transparency to consumers.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
