Why Flight Attendants Are Fighting Google's Purchase of Spirit Airlines Data
Spirit Airlines' $10 million data sale to Google includes extensive employee records (3.4 million payroll records, 100 million emails, 80,000 email accounts, and employee data dating back to 1986) plus commercial assets like pricing models and booking curves, but excludes customer and loyalty program data. The Association of Flight Attendants objected, delaying the hearing to September 9, arguing privacy protections are consumer-facing while the payload is employee-facing.
Impact and considerations
This deal could set a precedent for handling employee data in airline bankruptcies, impacting corporate data privacy compliance and employee rights protection.
Key points
- Spirit Airlines sells $10 million in data to Google, including 3.4 million payroll records and 100 million emails.
- Deal excludes data on 97.5 million passengers and 52.4 million loyalty members.
- Flight attendants' union objects, delaying hearing from August 18 to September 9.
- U.S. bankruptcy law protects consumer privacy but not employee privacy.
- Spirit says third-party will deidentify data, but contract not finalized.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- Skift
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 28 Aug 2026, 04:20
- Page published
- 28 Aug 2026, 04:35
- Last updated
- 28 Aug 2026, 04:20
- Original links
- Skift Feed：Why Flight Attendants Are Fighting Google’s Purchase of Spirit's Data (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 28 Aug 2026, 04:20