American Airlines tomorrow will begin collecting Secure Flight data from passengers at the point of sale, making it the first major domestic airline to announce that it is collecting new passenger data to meet requirements of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's new passenger prescreening program.
Beginning on Sept. 15, passengers booking American Airlines tickets though all points of sale, including travel agencies, will be asked to provide their full name as it appears on government identification, date of birth and gender. American said it "strongly encouraged" AAdvantage members to update their frequent flyer accounts with those new data elements.
TSA Aug. 15 directed domestic airlines, and the travel agencies that support them, to begin collecting the data from passengers
(BTNonline, Aug. 17). Other airlines are expected to follow American in collecting the data this fall. The next phase of the program in March 2010 will shift domestic airlines' watchlist-matching responsibilities to the government.