Kalshi withdraws planned flight cancellation event contracts after criticism

Kalshi has, for now, dropped a planned CFTC-regulated event contract that would have let users trade on whether flight cancellations at specified U.S. airports exceeded set thresholds during defined periods. The product, disclosed in a Tuesday self-certification filing and described by Kalshi as a potential hedge for travelers, conference organizers and other businesses exposed to disruption risk, had been scheduled to begin trading on Wednesday. By Thursday, a spokesperson told Fortune the company would not proceed. The retreat followed social media criticism that the contracts could create incentives for misconduct or collusion to disrupt airport operations, even though Kalshi said insiders such as TSA agents and airport and union officials were barred from participating and the contracts covered airport-wide cancellations rather than individual flights. FlightAware also objected to Kalshi's planned use of its data to settle the contracts, while Kalshi said the relevant information was public. The episode adds to scrutiny of Kalshi's event-contract business, including its legal fight over political markets and reports that suspicious trades tied to another market were detected and reported to the CFTC in a separate matter.