US Senators Accuse Frontier & Spirit Of Using Personal Information To Charge Higher Fees

Two of the biggest low-cost carriers in the United States are under fire by US Senators following a hearing in which executives from Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines refused to answer questions regarding the way in which passenger data is used in determining airline ticket prices and fees. Questions left unanswered On January 23, US Senators Maggie Hassan, Josh Hawley, and Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to Edward M. Christie III, and Barry L.

Biffle of Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines respectively, questioning the airline CEOs regarding their testimony at a December 2024 hearing at the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In the letter, the senators explained that passengers could potentially be charged different seat fees on the same flight despite being booked in the same ticket class or fare, and that the testimony given didn't sufficiently answer or clarify any of the senators' questions. Part of the letter put forth scathing evidence that could lead to the two largest low-cost carriers in the US being held liable for abusing passenger information for financial gain.



"Your lack of transparency raises concerns that your airlines use customers' personal information to manipulate seat pricing. This practice could lead to passengers on the same flight being charged different prices for the same seat type [in the same ticket fare] based on their personal characteristics. Although you stated that your airlines do not use "personally identifiable information" and what other consumer data may influence your pricing.

For example, non-personally identifiable data--such as ZIP codes [postal codes], browser cookies, location information, or search history--may be used to influence pricing, potentially through your contracts with the software company Navitaire." The letter goes on to reveal that under oath, Frontier Airlines executives failed to properly clarify why passengers must disclose certain personal information before the airline reveals seat fees on its website. The Frontier executive responded to this question by saying that a certain link (buried somewhere on the Frontier Airlines website) gives passengers a rundown on ".

..quite a few of [the airline's] fees.

.." One of the few fees excluded from that Frontier Airlines web-page is seat fees.

What is also quite alarming is a question asked by Senator Josh Hawley - "...

why do you make people enter their age, and their geographic location, and their gender before they can even see the cost of a seat?" - that highlights the data that Spirit and Frontier have been collecting despite it not even making sense to do so. Why, after all, should Spirit Airlines know what gender you are when purchasing a seat on a New York City to Atlanta flight? Executives from both Spirit and Frontier Airlines refused to comment on whether the carriers would end "..

.the practice of requiring personal information before revealing seat prices..

." If the practice of using customers' personal information to inform ticket prices does prove to be true, could that also be one of the driving factors behind the fall of budget airlines in the US and why ticket prices keep rising on these so-called "low-cost carriers?" At the December 4 hearing where the airline executives testified, one Senator Blumenthal expressed her and her constituents frustration with low-cost carriers and the airline industry alike over the current practices in the industry. "There is bipartisan [both Democrat and Republican, across Congress] frustration and even fury about the current practices.

..They simply won't fly anymore because they conflict with the reality of what our constituents see in their everyday lives and what they consider fair, including the use of personal information to set fees or fares that differ one to another, same flight, same time, different people, different fees, or fares" The clock is now ticking for Spirit and Frontier Airlines, with the two major carriers being given a month - until Feburary 24 - by the US senate to answer five key questions.

Those being: The decision to commit to not requiring personal information before providing customers with seat and ticket prices. If the airlines refuse to commit, they have to explain why. Why Spirit and Frontier require customers' personal information before providing seat fares.

The customer information that is used in the algorithms that determine ticket prices. Whether Spirit, Frontier, or both carriers utilize Navitaire - a software used by many successful airlines to provide additional revenue - to collect data. The safeguards that are in place to prevent discrimination if passenger data is being used to control the ticket prices displayed.

How much it would cost Spirit, Frontier, or both airlines to "change purchasing pathways" to allow customers to see seat fees without the need to provide their personal information. While it may seem alarming that airlines are collecting your personal information, other companies and businesses on the internet do it quite often. For example, whenever you sign up for social media, you agree to allow that social networking site to share your personal data with "third parties" (advertising companies) so that way they can tailor advertisements to you.

This is why you see an ad for that pan you heard about after you watched an influencer on social media talk about it. For now, the best you can do is stay vigilant. If an airline asks for your personal information before you've chosen your flight and are booking your ticket, be wary, as the airline might be charging you more just because of your identity.

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