One year until ‘Real ID’ use deadline – are you prepared?

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Americans are nowhere near ready for full implementation of the Real ID Act, set to take effect at U.S. airports a year from now, according to a survey.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans don’t have a Real ID or any of the other forms of identification that will be required at airport security checkpoints come fall 2020, according to the survey by the U.S. Travel Association.

Even more troubling, the survey found, a majority of Americans — 57 percent — are not aware that beginning Oct. 1, 2020, the only driver’s licenses that will be accepted for boarding commercial flights will be those that meet federal Real ID requirements.

“America is not Real ID ready, and that’s a big concern,” said Erik Hansen, vice president of government relations at the U.S. Travel Association.

Although travelers will be able to use other credentials, such as a U.S. passport or a military ID, industry leaders and lawmakers say they fear millions who use state-issued identification to board domestic flights will be caught by surprise.

Nearly 90 percent of U.S. residents of driving age have a license, while only about 42 percent of Americans have a U.S. passport. As of now, most license holders don’t have a Real ID license, which is generally identifiable by a star in the upper-right corner.

If major progress isn’t made in the issuance of the Real ID in coming months, and without alternative screening procedures in place come October of next year, Hansen said, millions could be barred from boarding their flights because they lack the required identification.

“We are going from a scenario where about 90 percent of the American public has the ability to fly today using any of their identification, but all of a sudden on October 1, 2020, if that doesn’t change, we have 40 percent of the population that may not be able to fly,” he said.

States have been scrambling to comply with the controversial 2005 domestic security program known as the Real ID Act, which was designed to help prevent terrorist attacks and reduce the number of licenses granted to undocumented immigrants. By law, states are mandated to issue IDs with counterfeit-resistant security features; applicants must provide several documents proving their identity and legal U.S. residency.

Most states are in the early phases of issuing the new security-enhanced licenses and identification cards and scrambling to issue millions of them by the 2020 deadline. Some states, including Virginia and Minnesota, are reporting that as few as 10 percent of their residents have the new identification.

As of this month, 47 states and the District were in full compliance with the program, meaning they are issuing Real IDs, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Oklahoma, Oregon and New Jersey, as well as the territories of American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands are not compliant, though federal officials say they anticipate they will be in the next year.

The lack of compliance and awareness about the deadline could result in major disruptions at U.S. airports and be catastrophic for the U.S. economy, travel industry experts say.

The U.S. Travel Association estimates that more than 70,000 people could be prevented from flying on the first day of implementation and up to half a million people the first week, based on the current numbers.

“That would mean upward of $40 million per day in economic impact, and that could balloon to hundreds of millions of dollars in the first week alone,” Hansen said.

The figures include money the affected travelers would have spent during their trips.

The TSA maintains that agents will begin enforcing the air travel provision at security checkpoints on Oct. 1 of next year as planned, turning away passengers who don’t have an acceptable form of identification.

“It seems to me citizens are going to be caught by surprise and outraged just about a year from now if suddenly they can’t board a plane,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) said at a congressional oversight hearing earlier this month.

“We need to heighten awareness about this,” said Wicker, who chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has oversight of the TSA. “Most people don’t have a passport, and most people are not in the military. . . . So it is going to be that driver’s license. Nine times out of 10.”

Patricia Cogswell, acting deputy administrator for the TSA, said the agency will be putting up more signage about the upcoming deadline and talking directly to individual passengers at security checkpoints about whether their ID meets the new requirements.

“We want to make sure everyone has the maximum amount of time they can to obtain either a Real ID-compliant document or other acceptable form of identification such as a passport or military identification,” Cogswell said at the hearing.

The process has been difficult. State motor vehicle administrations have encountered challenges ranging from computer system glitches to long lines of applicants to people seeking to get the Real ID but who are unable to provide the required documentation such as an original Social Security card.

Some states, such as Virginia, are not even making the Real ID mandatory, giving license holders the choice of whether they want a standard or Real ID, which federal officials say creates confusion. In about a half-dozen states, including California, the rollout has been plagued by technical glitches. A miscommunication between Maryland and DHS resulted in the state issuing Real ID licenses that turned out not to be compliant. The licenses are being recalled.