-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 10:44 PM 6/4/97 -0700, Steve Schear wrote:
(The airlines claim the FAA is requiring traveller identity. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Traveler ID is not 'required', however if you don't possess a government issued ID and/or have paid for your ticket via cash within 48 hours of departure expect some delays in your travel and a through search of your baggage.
In the Atlanta airport, positive gov't issued picture ID is required to be able to board an airplane for Delta, the main carrier, and about the only airline I fly. I have medallion level friends who have been refused the ability to board because they did not have picture ID on them. Stories include no travel with temporary, non-picture driver's licenses, having to go home to get the license, having a license fedex'ed to the destination city in order to board to get home, and reticketing on another airline that will accept a company ID. Cash has nothing to do with it. Business travel from repeat customers paid by American Express and ticketed through corporate travel agencies (American Express Travel) still have the ID requirement. As far as I know, all Atlanta airline departures require picture ID, though at least one airline will consider a company ID if pressed. I believe this is a bad policy, and think it should be opposed. Perhaps a law should be considered to change this. But obviously many people here would tell me I could just take another mode of transportation, such as riding the bus. Airlines are private corporations owned by their owners, not by their riders. The airlines apparently have a right (as Delta is doing) of demanding any prerequisite they wish for travel. In the case of Delta, the prerequisite is "May I see your papers, please?" I believe in anonymous travel, just as I believe in anonymous speech, and anonymous transactions. I recently subscribed to this list to help mature my views on issues such as collection and verification of electronic database information by private and gov't entities. I'm curious where the people here stand on such a policy. Do you feel that positive ID to fly on a plane should be permissable? How about a law to put a stop to it? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 5.0 beta Charset: noconv iQBVAwUBM5Z4EEGpGhRXg5NZAQFqngH/cFolkgUv2Bx7hGchz1qYTi5wQ4IAASsH uCQRMEEqxra0ZtqFASBXGJokTwqzb2ueJbxnenPS1BWd6foCqkbOIg== =kpOc -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----