Google's $10M Spirit Airlines Data Purchase Hit by Union Objection
A US bankruptcy court has delayed a hearing on Google's purchase of Spirit Airlines' internal business data, worth $10 million, until September 9. The sale was initially set to be approved on August 18 but was adjourned after the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which represents Spirit cabin crew, objected.
The AFA is seeking restrictions on the sale of flight attendant employee data and further protections for employees if the sale is approved. The union claims that despite Spirit's assurances that customer information and personally identifiable information will be removed from the records, links across datasets could potentially allow individuals or small groups to be reconstructed.
Spirit Airlines has been selling off assets in bankruptcy since shutting down its business in May due to high debt and fuel costs. Google plans to use the data for product development and training its AI models. The $10 million sale price is part of Spirit's efforts to liquidate its remaining assets.