Delta Air Lines Planning To Leverage AI To Increase Profits By 50%, CEO Says

Published Aug 21, 2026, 5:59 PM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. Delta Air Lines is looking to further implement the use of AI, which is suggested to increase profits by 50%, as the airline will be able to cut costs by reallocating staff to more important tasks. The move, as analyzed by Gary Leff from A View From The Wing, was covered on the Airlines Confidential podcast. Ed Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer of Delta, has spoken about how the airline looks to replace slow decisions made by people with the use of artificial intelligence, and use these tools to improve airfare pricing, flight upgrades, crew recovery, fuel, back office functions, and maintenance. While the airline has suggested that this will reduce the need for 'people', it does not see any immediate loss of headcount. Using AI To Improve Operational Efficiency Credit: Shutterstock Bastian explained that AI will support the carrier in making better-informed decisions, with more access to timely data to provide a clear perspective of where opportunities are. The airline is forced to make difficult decisions every day, and the use of AI will support the forward-looking needs of one of the world's largest airlines. The use of AI, which Bastian has renamed augmented intelligence, has the perspective that it will make its people smarter and more efficient, and that the use of AI will support the increase in operating margin for the airline going from 10% to 15%, which could see around a 50% improvement in profitability, resulting in billions of dollars of additional profit. In a call from Delta to Simple Flying, the airline has stressed that it does not see any immediate reduction in headcount, and that there will continue to be a need for a strong workforce at the carrier. Delta Responds To Misinformation Around AI Pricing Credit: Shutterstock For the Atlanta-based airline, it has stressed that the carrier is not using, testing, or planning to use data that would target individuals with separate pricing based on the situation. The airline has a zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing and plans to fully comply with applicable laws. Its decision to use AI-powered pricing functionality is planned to enhance the current fare pricing process, using aggregated data. This will support performance insights for the analysts who oversee recommendations to ensure the airfares are consistent with the overall Delta business strategy. The airline's ticket prices are dictated by market dynamics and competition. AI pricing functionality will make recommended pricing adjustments to enhance market competitiveness and aim to drive additional sales. The prices are not targeted to individual consumers, and the airline is currently looking at how AI technology will be a support tool in pricing, through a pilot with Fetcherr, which will aggregate purchasing data for routes and flights, forecast demand, adapt to market conditions, and factor in thousands of other variables. How Will AI Support Delta Team Members? Credit: Shutterstock Delta plans to further adapt the use of AI to support several aspects of the airline business, including AI-integrated knowledge to support reservations specialists with complex answers that can be answered quickly and accurately. This should improve resolution times and enhance overall customer service. Additionally, an AI-enabled tool will help Tech Ops planners, with better prediction of aircraft maintenance needs, to directly improve the availability of aircraft and up-to-date schedule reliability. Crew scheduling will also see the use of AI to help anticipate in advance where crew replacements could be needed, and allow the airline to adapt and plan resources more efficiently. As one of the world's largest airlines continues to integrate AI into the business, the airline has adopted a comprehensive AI governance framework which looks to balance operational enhancements with the highest standards of safety, security and trust. The airline has stressed that its decision to further adapt to the use of AI is to enable its people to do more, better, while mproving the bottom line so it can continue to invest in further profitability.