Big Airlines with Big Data: The European Competition Law Issues Associated with Price-Setting in the Airline Industry Using Big Data Analytics and Machine-Learning and the Case for ‘Competition-b

Abstract

Every sector of the digital economy is being revolutionized by the capacity of computer systems to ‘learn’ and make ‘decisions’. What does this mean for competition law? This article examines this question in the context of the airline industry, a pioneer of technological applications and prolific user of Big Data. It examines whether price-setting using Big Data and machine-learning may lead to parallel-pricing and tacit collusion between airlines. And if so whether the decisions of algorithms may amount to anticompetitive conduct within the scope of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. Identifying challenges in applying current competition law to tacit collusion using Big Data, the author proposes the airline industry proactively adopt ‘Competition-by-Design’ in order to demonstrate that it has not abdicated its responsibility for compliance with competition law.