Photo Credit: A file image of a Spirit Airlines Airbus A320neo aircraft. Airbus / Airbus
Spirit Airlines’ proposed $10 million sale of data to Google wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. Spirit shut down in May and was looking to quickly liquidate its assets. It sold off its coveted slots at LaGuardia to JetBlue. Its headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida was sold to a hedge fund. Spirit has also been selling off engines and returning aircraft to lessors.
But the sale to Google has opened a host of legal questions about who is protected under bankruptcy and data privacy laws, facing opposition from multiple unions and lawmakers.
Under the terms of the deal, Google would receive millions of payroll records, email accounts, employee data dating back to 1986, Spirit’s pricing model and booking curves, flight behavior data, in-flight purchases and Wi-Fi records, refund histories, and travel package information. Google is planning to use the data to enhance its AI models.
Both Spirit and Google have said all data would b