Slander–the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation–is a serious charge, but has a U.S. Senator crossed the line in his attacks against Delta Air Lines?
U.S. Senator Blumenthal Makes Serious Charge Against Delta Air Lines
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D – CT) is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Transportation Committee and has taken a keen interest in Delta’s admission that it is developing airfare pricing via artificial intelligence (AI). He posted a video essentially suggesting Delta is already using personalized information to offer you pricing at a point that can best squeeze you:
“Next time you’re traveling by air, look at the guy next to you. He may be paying half of what you are. And the reason is, quite simply, you’ve been charged a personalized fare. The airline, Delta, using AI and algorithms, collects information about your zip code, your web browsing activity, what kind of car you drive—all kinds of personal information showing what you can afford, up to your pain point. Not competition, not supply and demand, but what they can force you to pay. Now, this kind of practice not only endangers consumers with higher fares but also privacy, because they’re collecting all this information about you. And that’s why I’m demanding answers from the airlines. I will take whatever action I can, and I’ll demand that agencies like the FTC take action against discriminatory pricing.”
View this post on Instagram
The video is two weeks old, but remains online despite clear and unequivocal assurances by Delta that it has no intention of offering the sort of individualized pricing that Blumenthal suggests.
“There is no fare product Delta has ever used, is testing or plans to use that targets customers with individualized prices based on personal data.”
So does Blumenthal’s statement cross the line, even with the “may” caveat? Probably not. Defamation laws are much more forgiving in the US than in other jurisdictions. Furthermore, Blumenthal had a reasonable basis upon which to make that assertion based on a (now deleted) blog post made from Fetcherr, the Israeli firm that is developing AI pricing for Delta, stating that its technology could take into account individual factors:
Individualized Pricing: Factors like customer lifetime value, past purchase behaviors, and the real-time context of each booking inquiry all contribute to creating a truly personalized offer.
I don’t mind Senator Blumnethal’s consumer protection streak. Like any politician, sometimes the theatrics can be off-putting, but he appears to mean well. And he’s right that there’s something troubling about allowing airlines to charge me more for the same seat at the same time because they know I am loyal to Delta when the guy next to me bought at the same time and paid less for the same seat because he is loyal to American and Delta wants to entice him.
An unregulated free market causes destruction and even while some consumers may come out ahead by AI pricing (like my imaginary seatmate above), I don’t like the precedent and believe that avoiding this particular type of price discrimination should be a bedrock of enjoying the privilege of doing business in the United States.
> Read More: Delta Denies Using AI For Personalized Ticket Pricing, Despite Executive’s Remarks
> Read More: Delta’s AI Partner Scrubs “Individualized Pricing” Blog Post
For once, Blooming Idiot actually says something believable.
If Delta’s CEO hadn’t specifically said that Delta was doing exactly what the airline now denies I’d have more faith. Bastion was very clear so when the company spin doctors say one thing and the CEO says another I tend to think the CEO is telling the truth.
Never believe Delta. the CEO is a snake
Maybe they can give him a personal price on a flight to finally visit Vietnam. ♂️
While you have a good analysis, you are missing a key point, even if this rose to the level of slander his statements most likely would fall under the Speech and Debate Clause, so I don’t think Delta could go after him privately or the DOJ could do anything about it.
Not “most likely,” but 100% absolutely.
While I think Brad B is correct, I’m not sure it is 100% clear this is related to his official legislative activities…
It’s a rare day when I agree with Da Nang Dick, but I love him calling out Ed Bastard and Delta. Well done, Senator.
Anyone who slanders Delta is fine by me. I’ve said a lot worse about them than this, all of which I could substantiate, regarding the fact that they’re utterly pure evil in red and blue camoflage. I’m happy he’s one of my party. Now if he can only convince Ossoff and the Rev to say some things about them.
if politicians were held liable for all of the things they said that were clearly false, Washington would be empty.
AI is viewed negatively by a lot of people and it does have the potential to do harm as well as good.
Delta never said that it was or would use personalized pricing but there are a whole lot of companies that are not willing to open the possibility of accusation.
Oh, come on Tim. That’s exactly what Delta’s CEO said. You are as bad a politicians trying to tell us not to believe what they just said when they’re caught in the act. There’s not been a single Delta “enhancement” in the last few years that has been to the benefit of flyers.
I do not get your blind loyalty and belief that Delta is perfect. You lose credibility with posts like this
He’s right.
Eric,
that’s what YOU and Blumenthal interpreted DL to say. DL didn’t say it.
They did make comments that were open enough to interpretation that every other exec team in the US sees a clear line not to even get close to.
There is no blind loyalty. DL runs a great business and airline but they come up w/ some strategies that would better be left unsaid and undone.
talking about AI in pricing is off the table regardless of what DL said or meant. regardless of the industry.
No one wants to think that any company customizes any price for anyone. good, bad or indifferent. Everyone wants to think they are paying the same as everyone else even though that is the antithesis of airline pricing and has been for decades -long before AI existed.
the fact that you can’t see the big picture is what is really frightening.
Tim, Delta literally announced they’re working with Fetcherr so that ‘We will have a price that’s available on that flight, on that time, to you, the individual, not a machine that’s doing an accept, reject and a static price grid.’ That’s Hauenstein’s exact quote – not interpretation.
Then Fetcherr’s own blog described ‘Individualized Pricing: Factors like customer lifetime value, past purchase behaviors, and the real-time context of each booking inquiry all contribute to creating a truly personalized offer’ before scrubbing it when the backlash hit. This isn’t about what Blumenthal ‘interpreted’ – it’s about what Delta and their partner explicitly said they were doing.
Like it or not, personalized pricing is coming, and not just for airfare. Airfare is already one of the most price-differentiated products on the market, as very few people on the same aircraft paid the same price. AI will enable airlines to better predict what each customer is willing to pay vs the crude measures currently employed such as Saturday night stays. Like so many other scenarios though, AI will not be a one-way tool. Customers are already using such tools to find better airfares, and it remains just as likely that the net effect of AI is lower prices rather than higher prices, particularly for more savvy consumers. There is an almost 0% chance that any “solution” that Congress comes up with will end up benefitting consumers, so we are far better off simply letting innovation happen and the market respond.
So… this is a non-story?