Delta Airlines May Adopt AI Fare System: What It Would Mean For Travellers

Delta Airlines may soon become the first carrier to use artificial intelligence (AI) to set ticket prices. It will test the AI-driven pricing system over the next 18-24 months, the airline has said, as per The New York Post.

If the AI technology yields positive results, Delta Airlines may implement it permanently, travel site View From The Wing reported. To get things started, the airline plans to use AI to set ticket prices for up to 20 percent of its domestic flights by the end of 2025.

Delta Airlines President Glen Hauenstein said that the company was evaluating how ticket prices should be set up to offer more personalised and relevant options to each traveller. He added that the goal was to benefit the customer and offer the right ticket at the right price, as per View From the Wing.

He said, "[It's] a full re-engineering of how we price, and how we will be pricing in the future," adding, "[It's to] get inside the mind of our consumer and present them something that is relevant to them, at the right time, at the right price."

The airline earlier announced it would experiment with AI to set prices for 1 percent of its tickets based on how much the customer was willing to pay. So instead of offering a fixed price, the AI would suggest a fixed price customised as per each individual based on things like demand, timings and customer behaviour, reported the outlet.

Mr Hauenstein told The Street, "What we have today with AI is a super analyst. We have an analyst that's working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and trying to simulate in real time, given the same inputs that an analyst sees today, what should the price points be?"

This implies that the pricing of one flight out of every five will be determined by an AI program that calculates the maximum amount that customers are willing to pay for their ticket. "We like what we see. We like it a lot, and we're continuing to roll it out," said Delta.

For the seventh consecutive year, Delta Airlines was named the top US airline. It was also recognised as the nation's most reliable airline for on-time flights, according to The Points Guy.