For all my intl trips, I fly on AA out of JFK, I scan my passport in the self-check-in terminal and I get my bp. I put my passport away in my luggage and use my dl to go through security. NO ONE looks at my pp until I arrive at my foreign destination--AA does
not do pp checks at the gate. Now that I can print my bp at home, I am curious how this plays out: they have my pp number on file (I gave it to them
), but if the above scenario plays out NOW, I would still be allowed to fly even if I left my pp home.
On several trips out of LHR, no govt agent looked at my pp, only AA agents at the gate. [One or two times there was a "govt official" looking at pp's.]
I do the same about going through security. I use my passport to get my boarding pass, then put it away and use my domestic ID to get through security. TSA never bats an eye, even when I'm clearing security at the station from which my international flight departs (no connection).
But, the gate is another matter. I've flown AA to Europe out of DFW a half dozen times this year, and
every single time, the gate agent began boarding with the announcement "please have your passport in hand as well as your boarding pass!"
The agents didn't actually open the passports or look at the ID pages. Instead, they just wanted to see that each passenger HAD a passport, so that nobody would arrive in Europe without one.
OLCI complicates things a bit, because theoretically a passenger could enter the details online, and then get all the way to the gate without ever showing an airline or government employee in person that he/she has a valid passport in his/her possession. This probably makes the airlines a bit nervous, because a lot of revenue is at stake.
So, I believe that AA is checking for a passport in hand at international departure gates because if a passenger arrives overseas without his/her passport (left it in the bathroom, lost it somewhere, forgot it at home, etc), then the person cannot be admitted and the AIRLINE has to transport the person back to the origin country at the AIRLINE'S expense, because it was the AIRLINE'S fault for allowing the passenger to board without proper international documentation.
The interesting thing is, DFW is the only station where the agents have consistently checked for passports at the boarding gate for international flights. Never happened at JFK, and happened maybe 50% of the time at MIA.
Originally Posted by
catocony
....Since there is currently no constitutional requirement for US citizens to have permission to leave the country, there will never be exit controls on US citizens.....
Um...that's incorrect.
Of course US Citizens have to get government permission to leave the country. In fact, it's a two-step process:
1)
Applying for a passport means applying for permission to leave the country. The State Dept can approve or deny these applications. If you get into legal trouble, one of the easiest things they can do is confiscate your passport (which remains US Govt property at all times).
2)
Obtaining a boarding pass for an international flight. Before the airlines are permitted to issue you a boarding pass, your passport data are entered and your record must be checked against multiple government databases to be sure you aren't fleeing US jurisdiction with an active arrest warrant, outstanding child support, custody issues, tax problems, etc. If the US Govt doesn't want you leaving the country, agencies can red-flag you, and the airlines will deny you boarding.
So....yes, US Citizens do need government permission to leave the country, for
each and every instance of international travel. Now, it usually doesn't involve an investigation/interrogation of the type that citizens of some other countries get from officials as they try to leave, but rest assured, an investigation is happening in the background every time the airline agent swipes your passport in the computer to request permission to generate an international boarding pass for you.