General
A federal enhanced ID requirement for flyers will go into effect as planned, law enforcement officials in Huntsville said Tuesday, and travelers should prepare for delays on and after May 7.
That’s the day STAR ID will be required for commercial air travel, as well as to access certain federal complexes and nuclear power plants. Although Alabama has offered STAR ID since 2012, about one in five Alabamians has not yet acquired it, according to a senior Transportation Security Administration official.
“Without a REAL ID you will face delays, additional security and possibly a denial of entry into the checkpoint,” said Tara Corse, the TSA’s federal security director for Alabama.
STAR ID is Alabama’s version of the federal REAL ID, designed to help prevent the sort of ID-based security lapses that terrorists exploited Sept. 11, 2001. It requires additional documents to verify identity and is signified by a white star in a gold circle in the top left of a state driver license.
There are alternatives to the STAR ID driver license. They include passports, Department of Defense ID cards and a handful of other forms, AL.com has reported.
Beginning May 7, travelers who arrive at a TSA checkpoint with a noncompliant ID will be taken to a different checkpoint area and will “face significant delays” as they go through enhanced identity-verification process, Corse said.
Travelers on and after May 7 who have received a paper version of their STAR ID but are awaiting the hard card should also bring their former ID card – which will have a hole punched in it, she said.
States are allowed to issue non-compliant IDs, and most, like Alabama, continue to issue both, Corse said.
“You have individuals who don’t need a REAL ID or don’t travel, and [states] want to make sure they have the option [for a standard ID],” she said.
Senior Trooper Brandon Bailey, a spokesperson for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, said ALEA has 75 examining offices statewide, which may issue STAR ID. Faced with long lines as the May 7 deadline nears, ALEA has started allowing appointments to be made 120 days in advance, he said. Previously, bookings were available only nine days out.
Extended hours are not possible, he said, because many driver license offices are located in courthouses or other buildings with set closing hours.
“We understand that people are panicking right now — there’s an influx into all of our driver license offices,” he said. “[But] we want to emphasize, even after May 7, you can still get the STAR ID.”
TSA spokesperson Sari Koshetz said travelers should plan for delays as STAR ID rolls out.
“Get to the airport early – very early,” she said. “There may be some delays in the first few days of this implementation.”
To speed up security lines, she said, flyers should pack their bags according to the rules.
Anything flammable, explosive or corrosive cannot fly even in checked baggage. Sports equipment that could be used as a bludgeon cannot go in a carry-on but can be checked. Firearms can fly if they’re checked, in cases and declared to the airline.
Above all, Koshetz said, trying to sneak things past security screeners will only lead to unnecessary delays.
“Our officers are very well trained to find threats that could be either camouflage as an everyday item or hidden in an everyday item,” she said. “They’re trained, they’re gonna find it.”
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