chollie

I think they'll bring a few key airports in non-compliant states to their knees for a few days or weeks until Congress steps in and does something - either another extension or money for TSA to allegedly hire more manpower to manually grope and swab and interrogate pax who don't have 'compliant' ID.

Don't forget, last spring they staged a clearly orchestrated unofficial work slowdown that had some pax waiting in three-hour long lines. Neffy had to fly to ORD and personally witness it before he acknowledged it was happening. Congress gave TSA some money, the airlines and some airports hired additional people to help move things along (SEA hired 90 people), and suddenly the lines started moving again.

A less-noted aspect of RealID: you won't be able to enter federal many federal buildings without it.

dhuey

Our daughter forgot to bring her ID on a flight last year shortly after she turned 18. It took about 40 minutes from start to finish for her to go through the no-ID procedure. I can't imagine what affected airports would look like if say 20% of passengers showed up with a non-compliant ID.

Boggie Dog

Exactly what needs to happen. Put this ID bs to rest once and for all, real or not.

reclusive46

I've always wondered what would happen if say a French national lost their passport. Had to fly to say Washington DC to get a replacement passport. How would they be able to fly given no credit reference agency (I'm gathering thats what they use) is going to hold any record of them?

jkhuggins

That's assuming that TSA cares about the efficient operation of airports. TSA would simply resort to its usual list of responses. "We're just following the law." "Affected passengers have known for years about this change." "Passengers should be prepared for delays at the checkpoint." "These are not the droids you're looking for." And so on.

nrr

NYS issues DLs which are Real ID compliant but does NOT require that one obtain one. Per NYSDMV website they note that this "status quo" will be OK through 2020.
My (non Real ID Compliant) NYSDL has only my first and middle name's initials
, so TSA on occasion has asked to see some item with my full first name--a credit card was always OK. But it is easier for me (now) to use my GE card!

GUWonder

Do you recall the date (or even the month) when he flew to ORD for that?

petaluma1

On or about May 20, 2016

dhuey

I'm not making assumptions about what TSA cares about, big picture. That's moving into a political area. I simply wonder if, as a practical matter, it would even be feasible in any practical way, to start rejecting driver's licenses as IDs in airports. My sense is that it would be chaos at all airports in affected states, and big problems nationwide as residents of the affected states try to go through security with their non-compliant IDs. TSA could issue all of the public service messages they want, but there would still be a significant number of passengers who don't get or appreciate the message. Even if 5% of the passengers show up with non-compliant IDs, the raw numbers would be overwhelming.

reclusive46

To be fair wouldn't this be like any travel document change. Like changes in requirements to cross the US Canada Mexico border or removing the ability for children to travel on their parents passports.

Yes people won't be able to travel and it will affect people for a few weeks or months but after that it won't be much of an issue and if there is enough publicity it's not really TSAs problem.

cbn42

In a practical sense, anyone without acceptable ID would be subject to alternative screening. TSA could make the alternative screening as difficult or easy as they want.

For example, if the lines are too long, they could let some people through with a non-compliant ID and a few extra questions instead of the lengthy questioning that they do now. In this way, they could make sure that the airport continues to function, but there is enough frustration and anger to compel states to come into compliance with REAL ID (or compel Congress to step in and address the situation).

My guess is that it wouldn't be as bad as we think. Many people already have passports, military ID, etc., and of course airports don't just serve locals so some people will be from compliant states. If the number of people needing to be checked through alternative means is significant (say 5% as you suggest) then they will probably come up with a streamlined method to handle them. Perhaps step aside to a "secondary" TDC who can quickly pull up your credit report and ask the necessary questions?

dhuey

Yes, I would imagine that it would eventually calm down at the affected airports. Still, I'm guessing that there would be at least a couple of tumultuous weeks.

jkhuggins

Because TSA is not charged with being efficient. TSA is charged with securing commercial airline travel.

TSA can accomplish its "mission" by simply denying everyone access to the secure area. Voila, problem solved. If no passengers can get on a plane, then no passengers can cause mischief on a plane.

Okay, that's the obvious ridiculous strawman. But if this oft-threatened RealID policy actually happens, and screening takes longer as a result, leading to fewer passengers making it through checkpoints in a timely fashion, TSA won't care. Efficiency and throughput aren't metrics TSA uses to evaluate its performance.

Because if they were, then we'd actually have a meaningful public discussion about security versus freedom.

Boggie Dog

The airlines might care and all of them working together might have the clout to address the problem.

jkhuggins

With respect ... what evidence do we have that they care about this issue? They haven't cared enough to lobby TSA about the current state of screening.

As others have pointed out here frequently, it's in the best interest of the airlines for the government to perform screening duties; that way, the airlines get all of the benefits of screening without any of the costs or risks or liabilities.