Google agrees to privacy safeguards in Spirit Airlines data deal

Google has agreed to keep employee medical files, disciplinary records and safety reports out of its proposed purchase of Spirit Airlines’ internal data. The agreement prompted unions representing former Spirit employees to withdraw their objections to the sale ahead of a November 17, 2026, bankruptcy court hearing in New York.

Google bid $10 million for the records at an August 14 auction as Spirit sold off assets after it stopped flying in May. Google wants to use the data to train artificial intelligence models. The material Spirit originally offered included decades of company emails, employee training and travel records, and messages staff exchanged on Microsoft Teams.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA challenged the sale four days after the auction. In its filing, the union said the proposed terms focused on removing information that could identify a customer, even though much of what Google stood to acquire documented the working lives of Spirit employees. The machinists’ union and Transport Workers Union Local 570 joined the objection.

Spirit’s pilots raised a separate concern about what might happen to information they had shared in confidence. In a court filing, the Air Line Pilots Association cited reports submitted through FAA-approved safety programs. The union argued that pilots at other airlines could become less willing to report an incident if they believed a future buyer might obtain the report and identify the pilot who filed it.

Under the revised terms, Spirit would hire Tonic AI to strip identifying information from the records Google would receive. An independent reviewer chosen in consultation with the unions would check that work.

Google also agreed to keep the data confidential and refrain from trying to identify individuals, the flight attendants’ union said on November 10.

The exclusions also cover employee identification documents and drug and alcohol testing records.

The bankruptcy judge still must approve the sale.

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