Prediction market platform Kalshi has called off plans for its latest offering: Contracts that would let users wager on upcoming flight cancellations. The decision comes after social media users expressed fears that bad actors could make mischief at airports in order to collect a payout, and after popular airline-tracking service FlightAware said Kalshi could not use its data to resolve the contracts.
Kalshi had planned to begin listing flight cancellation contracts on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing, but a spokesperson on Thursday told Fortune that the company has opted not to go forward for now.
Kalshi’s proposed contracts applied to airport-wide cancellations, not individual flights, and included detailed rules prohibiting insiders—including TSA agents and airport and union officials—from placing wagers. Nonetheless, skeptics seized on the news to warn that airport workers seeking a payoff might collude to cancel a flight, or that crooks could call in fake threats to shut down air travel.
