Oct 29 (Reuters) - Airlines flying to and from U.S. airports must be fully compliant by Nov. 1 with a stepped-up security rule that uses personal information to screen passengers.
Stalled for years over privacy and political concerns about "no fly" and other government watch lists, the computerized Secure Flight program took effect in 2009 and gave airlines a year to adjust their reservation systems.
Here's a look at the rule and how it will affect travelers.
THE NEW RULES
Secure Flight requires airlines to collect a passenger's full name (as it appears on a driver's license, passport, or other government-issued identification) while booking a domestic or international flight. Date of birth and gender are also required. The program will not allow an airline to issue a boarding pass if the information is incomplete.
AIRLINE COMPLIANCE
U.S. airlines flew nearly 700 million passengers -- about 2 million per day -- in 2009, most of them domestically. Trade groups representing major airlines say carriers already comply with Secure Flight rules and expect no interruption for travelers. Homeland security officials also do not expect problems. Airlines have been reminding passengers through email and long ago began collecting related information for travel on or after Nov. 1.
PROGRAM'S PURPOSE
Secure flight was established as part of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks against New York and Washington. It was a follow-on to a pre-screening effort run by airlines that was deemed inadequate following the attacks. The goals of the new program, according to the Transportation Security Administration, are to identify known and suspected terrorists, prevent people on "no fly" lists from boarding aircraft, and identify those on less stringent security lists for enhanced screening.
PREVIOUS EFFORTS
Original efforts to enhance an existing passenger pre-screening program after 2001 were sharply criticized by Congress for being poorly planned. Civil liberties groups said the government's strategy was too broad and violated privacy rights. Two earlier versions were scrapped over those concerns. The issue focused attention on watch lists, which are maintained by the government to identify suspicious travelers.
NO-FLY LISTS
Following the 2001 attacks, watch lists grew in number and size and thousands of nonthreatening travelers, including celebrities, the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, and average people found themselves on watch lists and could not fly until their names were removed. In a few cases of mistaken identity, suspect passengers were not identified until a flight was en route, forcing the plane to divert. Homeland security officials later simplified the security lists and said in 2008 that fewer than 2,500 people were on the "no fly" manifest. (Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Vicki Allen)