U.S. Now Requiring Full Names For All Flyers

All passengers flying to, from or through the United States will have to supply their full name, including middle names, in advance of travel as today, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has announced.

The requirement for passengers to give their full name as it appears on the government-issued identification with which they are traveling is the first phase of the U.S. government's controversial Secure Flight program to be implemented publicly. It will be followed on Aug. 15 with a requirement for passengers to provide their date of birth and gender.

Secure Flight is aimed at replacing the pre-departure passenger watchlist reports that airlines currently are obliged to submit to TSA. TSA said the new system would help reduce misidentification of passengers with similar names to individuals on its list. It aims to vet 100 percent of passengers on all U.S. domestic commercial flights by early 2010 and 100 percent of all international flights by the end of 2010.

"It is essential that companies are ready to adhere to new regulations so that travelers are not inconvenienced or delayed," said HRG director of client management Stewart Harvey. "We are striving to ensure all our clients are briefing their employees to input the correct information when making bookings."

HRG director of industry affairs Tony Berry added that companies need to be aware TSA is applying its Secure Flight requirement to flights that overfly U.S. airspace, even if they do not touch down on U.S. territory.

TSA and the travel industry are encouraging passengers to provide their relevant data at time of booking, with airlines required to forward the information to the TSA no later than 72 hours before departure. Berry said that travelers who book their flights less than 72 hours before departure are at present being permitted to travel.

"The question of whether they will be stopped from traveling in future has not yet been answered," Berry said.