Flyer fury after Delta, American and United admit to unthinkable airline practice

Source: Daily Mail

Date: June 16, 2025

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Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines have all sold passenger data to the federal government, a new report alleges. 

The airlines collectively own a data broker - the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) - that collects their passenger's flight record information including their names, full flight itineraries and financial details. 

This broker then sold passenger data on to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a contract that asked the CBP not to reveal where the data had come from, according to records seen by 404 Media. 

The CBP, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), claims the data is necessary to help authorities track people of interest. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also purchased the data, the publication reported. 

It comes after ICE raids sparked widespread unrest in Los Angeles and clashes with the National Guard. 

'The big airlines — through a shady data broker that they own called ARC — are selling the government bulk access to Americans' sensitive information, revealing where they fly and the credit card they used,' Democrat Senator Ron Wyden told 404 Media. 

The Airlines Reporting Corporation is owned by at least eight major airlines including Delta, Southwest, United, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, according to the report. 

Documents accessed by 404 Media show that the CBP claims to need the purchased data 'to support federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to identify persons of interest's domestic air travel ticketing information.'

The documents also reveal that ARC asked the agency to 'not publicly identify vendor, or its employees, individually or collectively, as the source of the Reports unless the Customer is compelled to do so by a valid court order or subpoena and gives ARC immediate notice of same.'

The data is updated daily with ticket sales from the previous day, and collectively holds more than one billion records covering 39 months of past and future travel details. 

The data sold - in a contract starting in June 2024 and potentially running until 2029 - covers both US and non-US citizens, according to the report.  

'While obtaining domestic airline data—like many other transaction and purchase records—generally doesn't require a warrant, there's still supposed to go through a legal process that ensures independent oversight and limits data collection to records that will support an investigation,' Jake Laperruque from the Center for Democracy & Technology told the publication. 

'As with many other types of sensitive and revealing data, the government seems intent on using data brokers to buy their way around important guardrails and limits,' he added.  

As well as data collection ARC also functions as a platform for more than 240 airlines to run their ticket settlement services. 

It also acts as a go between for airlines and travel agencies, and spots travel trends in partnership with firms like Expedia. 

The full article can be read here.