Wow...Harsh crowd! Seems like more and more, the standard FT response is "You didn't pay full Y so I have no sympathy for you." You guys all stockholders or what?

If this is a case where your friend used a legit name, but one that doesn't exactly match the passport, then he should bring ID that has the ticketed name. If he can produce a couple forms of ID and a passport that clearly show him to be the correct passenger, he will be fine. This happened to my wife last year: ticketed in married name, passport in maiden name. We brought 2 driver's licenses and a copy of the marraige license, and the airlines were fine with it.

If your friend ticketed in a totally bogus name (like a nickname), then I have less sympathy. At that point, you probably either need to beg for a forgiving agent, or get your friend to acquire ID in that name to bring to the airport along with other ID. (I won't speculate how one would "acquire" that ID. I don't want to konw. )