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TSA's Secure Flight Program

By: Colleen | October 29, 2008 | Category: General

Depending on how you look at it, my friend's mom has the fortunate or unfortunate luck to be named, "Julia Roberts." As I'm sure you namecan guess, when filling out forms and making reservations she tends to raise an eyebrow or two.

We've all been in similar situations where our name matches that of someone else. It usually involves a small bit of confusion, and then all is back to normal. But what if your name matches that of someone on the terrorism "watch list" for airline travel?

On October 22, TSA announced the implementation of the "Secure Flight" program.

Secure Flight is designed to enhance the security of domestic and international commercial air travel through the use of improved watch list matching. Beginning in early 2009, airlines will be required to collect a passenger's full name, date of birth, and gender when making an airline reservation. The hope is that doing this will eliminate "same name" inconveniences while at the airport.

Secure Flight also requires that all "watch list" screening be done entirely by TSA, creating one uniform list of people who potentially pose a terrorist threat.

If you were in charge of TSA, what would you do to make air travel more secure?

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Comments:

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I had the unfortunate bad luck to end up on the "watch list" for airline travel shortly after the TSA was formed. I say "bad luck" because I think I was selected by some unknown random method.
I'm about as much a terrorist as Howdy Doody was.
I strenuosly objected to being on the list evrytime I flew but the Airlines blamed the TSA and TSA turned a deaf ear..
I went to the TSA website and followed the directions there to prove who I was sending all the necessary paperwork to them. That didn't work.
I had to contact my Representatives and Senators pleading my case to them.
That did it. They intervened on my behalf and I haven't been hasseled since.
I strongly recommend to anyone on the list to write/call your elected officials...they have the power to get you off the list.
Mac

Posted by Mac on October 29, 2008 at 11:54 AM EDT #

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