FTC personalized pricing inquiry targets Delta and eight others
The FTC personalized pricing inquiry began on October 28, 2026, when the Federal Trade Commission ordered Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart to explain how they set prices and pay workers, including any use of personal data and AI. Each company has 45 days from receipt to respond. For businesses that price with algorithms, the orders show what a regulator now expects them to document: inputs, overrides, tests and disclosures.
What the FTC ordered Delta and eight other companies to do
On October 28, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission ordered nine companies to explain how they set prices and pay workers: Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart. The orders feed a new inquiry into whether personal data is used to set prices and compensation.
The Commission approved the orders in a 2–0 vote under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act. Each company has 45 days from receipt of its order to respond, and the FTC can seek a federal court order if a company does not comply.
Why regulators are looking at AI pricing now
The question is whether different people pay different prices for the same ticket, ride or delivery because of who they are. The FTC says it will assess whether prices vary with loyalty-program participation or with AI analysis of personal data.
"Consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer." — Andrew N. Ferguson, FTC Chairman
Delta drew attention in 2025, when lawmakers asked about its work with Fetcherr, an AI pricing technology provider. In April 2026, a JetBlue customer complained that a fare rose by $230 within a day, and the airline's social-media account suggested clearing cookies. JetBlue later said that reply was incorrect.
What the companies say about their pricing
The named companies deny using personal data to set individual prices. Delta told PYMNTS that no fare product it has used, is testing or plans to use targets customers with individualized offers based on personal data.
In an August 2025 response to senators, Delta said its AI-assisted tools support pricing analysts with aggregated market and demand information and do not receive customers' personal information. JetBlue said fares are set by demand and seat availability. Target said it does not use personal information to raise an item's price.
How the FTC personalized pricing inquiry works
The orders ask for the inputs, tools and procedures behind each price, according to a 15-page public template of the order. It covers three separate decisions: consumer pricing, which jobs are offered to which workers, and how worker pay is calculated.
Companies must describe how personal information enters a price, how missing information is treated and when a calculated price is overridden. They must also report studies, experiments and A/B tests, and the exact wording and dates of disclosures to customers and workers. The general period covered begins January 1, 2023; certain research requests reach back to January 1, 2021.
Why gig workers are part of the inquiry
The FTC is also asking whether pay for ride-hailing and delivery drivers varies with personal factors such as phone usage or acceptance history for past offers. The template asks how the customer's price is split between worker compensation and company revenue. That lets investigators look at both sides of the same transaction.
What the inquiry has and has not found
No finding exists yet. A Section 6(b) order is a compulsory market study, not an enforcement action, and the FTC has not said any of the nine companies broke the law.
The approach differs from the agency's earlier study, begun in July 2024, which examined third-party firms that sell pricing tools. The FTC said that work did not reveal actual pricing decisions. In August 2026 it proposed an enforcement policy statement saying undisclosed use of personal data to set an individual price could be deceptive or unfair in some circumstances.
What it changes for companies that use dynamic pricing
For any business that sets prices with algorithms, the orders show what a regulator asks to see: the data that enters a price, the rules that change it, who can override it and what customers were told. Dynamic pricing based on demand, inventory and timing is not the target; pricing tailored to one person's data is.
Retailers, airlines and gig platforms that can document those inputs and disclosures are in a stronger position if the FTC widens its review.
Questions and answers
Which companies received FTC pricing orders?
Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart received the orders on October 28, 2026.
Is dynamic pricing the same as personalized pricing?
No. Dynamic pricing changes with demand, inventory and timing. Personalized pricing uses information about one customer to estimate what that person will pay.
Did the FTC find that the companies broke the law?
No. The orders are a market study under Section 6(b), and the FTC has made no finding against any company.
MOZGII view
How we would build it
The FTC is asking for something most teams that set prices do not keep in one place: a record of why a given customer saw a given price. That record is the system a company needs here, whether or not it ever uses personal data.
If we were building the price engine for an airline, a retailer or a delivery platform, we would log every price decision with its inputs: the demand signals, the inventory, the rule or model version, any manual override and who made it. We would keep personal data out of the price model by design and test that it stays out, so the claim "we do not use it" can be shown, not only stated. A model could suggest prices from aggregated demand, as Delta describes its tools, while an analyst approves the rules it works within.
For gig platforms we would add the worker side: each offer, the pay calculation and the split between pay and revenue, stored with the same inputs. Disclosures to customers and workers would be versioned with dates, because the orders ask for exact wording.
It would break where old systems feed prices without logging, or where an A/B test changes prices for a group and nobody records it. The one metric we would watch is the share of price decisions that can be fully explained from the log. Next, we would build a review that flags any input in a price model that could identify a person.
Sources
Where the facts in this story come from.
- 01PYMNTS | FTC Orders 9 Companies to Explain Pricing and Compensationpymnts.com
- 02US Federal Trade Commission targets airline ticket pricing as scrutiny of AI and personal data intensifiesfl360aero.com
- 03FTC Orders Nine Companies to Disclose Pricing and Pay | Zeniteqzeniteq.com
- 04FTC Personalized Pricing Inquiry: What Nine Orders Actually Askunhyd.com