Who are you? If you're getting on a plane, the government will soon want to know more than it does already -- right down to your birth date and gender.

The change will come with the first phase of what the Transportation Security Administration calls Secure Flight, which is set to go into practice sometime this spring, shifting the responsibility for checking domestic passenger identification from the airline carriers to the TSA. International flights will begin to be handled by TSA later in the year.

Delta Compliance with DHS/TSA Secure Flight Program

(March 23, 2009) - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued its “Final Rule on Secure Flight” which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual airlines to the (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Under the new Secure Flight Rule, the TSA mandates that air carriers request passengers to provide specific information and that it is added to their reservations. The required information is known as Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) and is listed below.

* Itinerary
* Full Name that matches a non-expired government issued identification document
* Date of Birth
* Gender
* Known Traveler Number
* Redress Number (if one exists)

What are Delta and Northwest doing to comply with Secure Flight?
In preparation, Delta and Northwest are proactively conducting meetings with many internal departments including Corporate Security, Airport Customer Service Security, Information Technology, Corporate Communications, Sales, Marketing, Process Improvement, and MLT Vacations to determine how the information will be collected in reservations booked by DL, NW, travel agents and on websites.

Delta and Northwest also attended a joint ATA/IATA/TSA/CBP Secure Flight meeting in Washington D.C. to discuss industry concerns related to Secure Flight and reservations and booking systems.

Timelines set by the TSA
Of the four timeline dates set by the TSA, DL and NW have already met the first two as highlighted below. The remaining two dates and requirements are noted below. To meet the timelines, DL and NW, along with other airlines are actively developing an industry standard to determine where the data elements are to be placed within the PNR. When the processes are defined, further information will be communicated.

April 1, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect Full Name data. - Completed.
May 15, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to send the Full Name data and Passenger’s itinerary to the DHS. - Completed
August 15, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect, store, gather and send to DHS complete SFPD elements for domestic flights.
October 31, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect, store, gather and send to DHS complete SFPD elements for international flights.

Public Awareness
The TSA recognizes the need to make the traveling public aware that there will be the requirement to provide the SFPD when a reservation is made to fly and is in the process of building a public awareness campaign. The TSA will be providing airlines with a TSA-designed “Tool Kit” for communication purposes that will be distributed to appropriate departments by the end of March.

The link provided below from the TSA public Web site details Secure Flight more thoroughly.
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers...ght/index.shtm

Please be assured that Delta is working diligently with the TSA to address the concerns of our customers as we move towards complying with the Secure Flight rule requirements.


Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to a number of frequently asked questions regarding the Secure Flight Program.

Q1. How should the passenger’s name appear on the ticket?

A1. Full first, middle and last name should be on the ticket and must match the passenger’s name on their valid non-expired government issued photo ID such as Driver’s License or Passport.

Q2. How will this impact names and information on a customer’s SkyMiles or WorldPerks account? Will the name on an account need to be updated or changed?

A2. Under Secure Flight rules, the name used to make a reservation must exactly match the passenger’s name on the government-issued identification (including middle names, first or middle initials, etc.), which may not exactly match the name associated with a frequent flyer account. SkyMiles and WorldPerk members should be begin to update their account information to be in sync with their government issued identification.

Q3. Will this affect the way traveler profiles are built/stored in GDS or self booking tools?

A3. Name information in profiles should match a passenger’s valid non-expired government issued photo ID. Gender and date of birth information should be gathered, if possible, and when the industry has determined how information will be entered into a passenger record (PNR) it will be distributed to travel agents.

Q4. Since the required information should be received 72 hours prior to flight time, are there any issues with name corrections or new reservations booked less than 72 hours prior to departure?

A4. No. The data will be stored in the PNR and will be sent to the TSA at 72 hours prior to flight departure. At 25 hours every reservation created between 72 and 25 hours will be sent to TSA. If a reservation is made less than 25 hours before scheduled departure, the data will be sent to the TSA when the reservation is made.

Q5. Do the airlines keep the TSA information as history?

A5. The airlines will keep the TSA information within the PNR for the life of that PNR.

Q6. How will DL/NW work with travel agencies to ensure they have the required passenger information?

A6. Once the industry has determined how information will be entered into a passenger record (PNR) it will be distributed to travel agents.