Alerts Sign-up
Two major low-cost airlines in the United States, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, are facing scrutiny from US Senators over their use of passenger data in determining ticket prices and fees. The issue came to light following a Senate hearing where executives from both airlines did not adequately address questions about their pricing practices.
Senators Maggie Hassan, Josh Hawley, and Richard Blumenthal have written to Edward M. Christie III of Spirit Airlines and Barry L. Biffle of Frontier Airlines. They expressed concerns that passengers might be charged different seat fees on the same flight despite booking under the same class or fare. The senators highlighted a lack of transparency regarding whether customer information is used to manipulate seat pricing.
"Your lack of transparency raises concerns that your airlines use customers' personal information to manipulate seat pricing," the letter stated. It also questioned the use of non-personally identifiable data such as ZIP codes, browser cookies, location information, or search history in influencing pricing through contracts with software company Navitaire.
