This summer, U.S. Airlines executives are helping to set flight prices for competitors using artificial intelligence. Now, the airline is looking for ways to use AI itself – but says it’s just hope to save time, not letting the AI robot decide what price customers pay.
American Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer Steve Johnson shocked several ways airlines are considering using AI, speaking at an industry conference on Thursday. Related to when the customer books the flight’s fare.
“We submit fares three times a day and we have to be more competitive in a super dynamic environment. AI will help us do that,” Johnson said at the Morgan Stanley Laguna conference in California.
The comments came less than two months after U.S. CEO Robert Isom seemed to be strongly criticizing Delta’s AI tactics.
In July, the Atlanta-based airline told investors it had started using AI to help price domestic flights about 3%.
The rapid and strong opposition from existing lawmakers, all demanding to know whether the Delta is using personal data to target consumers with tailored prices (Delta later denied), and Isom himself.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Isom said on the US earnings call on July 24. “It’s not about baiting and switching. It’s not about deception. Of course, from the Americans, this isn’t what we’ll do.”
However, American admits it is exploring AI tools to help its revenue management – behind-the-scenes systems that can help airlines decide what the ticket charges and how to fill the plane profitably.
Americans told TPG that any AI tool it might consider using involves saving time and help carriers automatically submit millions of fares through their network every day.
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The airline insists that it will never personalize fares based on data from individual customers, which is consistent with Isom’s comments in July.
This explanation satisfies longtime industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, who has previously been concerned about airline use of AI fares.
“What AI is going to do is allow airlines to respond to changes in the market and therefore be more competitive,” said Harteveldt, president of the Atmospheric Research Group. “My explanation is that, frankly, Americans will be more competitive with other airlines, especially those that may charge less.”
To be clear, despite the review by lawmakers, Delta also said it only uses AI tools to help air ticket decisions based on publicly available data and industry dynamics. As part of the AI pilot program, Delta Air Lines cooperates with third-party Israeli technology company Fetcherr.
The United States also uses or explores AI in other fields. Johnson said last week that the operator believes AI Tech is a better way to help customers rebook after flight. The operator is already using generator tools to help it reoperate in severe weather or other major disturbance attacks.
“It’s a very complex business,” Johnson said Thursday. “And the ability to automate answers that can generate answers more comprehensively and faster is always valuable to us.”
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