American Airlines pilots union joins opposition, clouding Spirit's data sale to Google
A third union has objected to Spirit's data sale; the court's ruling will test whether bankrupt companies' data can feed AI training.
The union representing American Airlines pilots (APA) has filed a court objection to Spirit Airlines' $10 million sale of its data to Google.
After Spirit shut down earlier this year, Google won a bankruptcy auction for its data with a $10 million bid, saying it could be used to improve its products and AI models. According to Business Insider on October 3, APA filed its objection on Tuesday, saying more than 700 of its members formerly worked at Spirit and that the sale would disclose pilots' confidential employment and training information.
The filing argues that voluntary safety and training programs depend on confidentiality, and that reselling the data could chill participation across US commercial aviation. The unions representing Spirit's pilots and flight attendants had already objected. Google says the sale excludes customer and credit card information and that identifying details will be scrubbed. The court has not ruled.