Federal officials want to know how airlines handle — and share — passengers’ personal information

WASHINGTON — Federal officials said Thursday they will investigate how airlines protect personal information about their passengers and whether they make money by sharing that information with other parties.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said the investigation will focus on the 10 largest U.S. airlines and cover their collection, processing and use of customer information.

“Airline passengers should be able to trust that their personal information will not be inappropriately shared with third parties or mishandled by employees,” said Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

A spokeswoman for trade group Airlines for America said: “US airlines take customers’ personal information security very seriously. That’s why they have robust policies, programs and cybersecurity infrastructure in place to protect consumer privacy.”

In announcing the review, the Transportation Department did not make any allegations against any of the airlines or cite events that might have led to the move. A spokesperson said this is being done “proactively” to help the department determine how to protect passenger information.

The department said it has sent letters to each of the airlines — Delta, United, American, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian and Allegiant — about their procedures for collecting and using passenger information, including “the monetization creating passenger data, targeted advertising and preventing data leaks.”

The agency also asked airlines if they have received any complaints about employees or contractors mishandling personal information.

Delta, United, American, Southwest and Alaska referred questioners to the statement from Airlines for America. Allegiant, which is not part of the trade group, said protecting customer data is a priority and welcomes the government’s review.