Press release from the TSA today. TSA’s Secure Flight Enters First Public Phase Media Contact: WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
announced today that beginning May 15 the Secure Flight passenger vetting
program will begin asking passengers to enter their full name – as it
appears on the government issued identification they will be traveling with
– when making airline reservations. This is the first publicly-noticeable step in implementing the multi-phase
Secure Flight program which shifts pre-departure watch list matching
responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA. The Secure Flight
program satisfies a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, and
congressional requirements from the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 and the 9/11 Commission Act signed into law in 2007. "By enhancing and streamlining the watch list matching process, the
Secure Flight program makes travel safer and easier for millions of
Americans," said TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. "During this
phase of the Secure Flight program, passengers are encouraged to book their
reservations using their name as it appears on the government-issued ID they
will use while traveling." In the near future, small differences between the passenger's ID and the
passenger's reservation information, such as the use of a middle initial
instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, will not be an
issue for passengers. Over time, passengers should strive to obtain consistency
between the name on their government issued ID and the travel information they
use for booking flights. The second phase of Secure Flight begins August 15, 2009 when passengers
will be required to enter their date of birth and gender when booking airline
flights. Once Secure Flight's advanced technology is fully implemented in early 2010,
enhanced watch list matching will be done by the government. Airlines will
gather a passenger's full name, date of birth, and gender when making an
airline reservation to determine if the passenger is a match to the No Fly or
Selectee lists. By providing the additional data elements of gender and date of
birth, Secure Flight will more effectively help prevent misidentification of
passengers who have similar names to individuals on the watch list and better
identify individuals that may pose a known or suspected threat to aviation. TSA's goal is to vet 100 percent of passengers on all domestic commercial
flights by early 2010 and 100 percent of passengers on all international
commercial flights by the end of 2010. Carolyn
Wooley University
of Oregon Travel
Coordinator 541-346-3158
ph 541-346-2393
fax |