Comment Re:Airlines need ID (Score 1) 992
...the Airlines started asking for IDs, and not the FAA.
But the FAA required the airlines to ask for ID, at least according to letters they wrote in response to FOIA requests. Paragraph 38 of Gilmore's complaint says essentially the same thing.
To quote the FAA, as of September 1996:
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a security directive, effective at airports throughout the country, in response to recent intelligence indicating an elevated threat of terrorism. The security directive requires airlines to request a valid form of identification from airline ticket holders. While an airline is required to request the identification, its actual presentation by the passenger is not absolutely required, and there is currently no prohibition against allowing someone on an aircraft without such identification. The absence of identification, however, requires the airline to use alternative measures to provide the same level of security protection."
So, at least at that point, airlines had the discretion to let people on board without ID. Some didn't tell people they had that discretion and just blamed the whole mess on the FAA. Others declined to allow anyone on board without ID. But the decision to ask was made for them by the feds.
But the FAA required the airlines to ask for ID, at least according to letters they wrote in response to FOIA requests. Paragraph 38 of Gilmore's complaint says essentially the same thing.
To quote the FAA, as of September 1996:
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a security directive, effective at airports throughout the country, in response to recent intelligence indicating an elevated threat of terrorism. The security directive requires airlines to request a valid form of identification from airline ticket holders. While an airline is required to request the identification, its actual presentation by the passenger is not absolutely required, and there is currently no prohibition against allowing someone on an aircraft without such identification. The absence of identification, however, requires the airline to use alternative measures to provide the same level of security protection."
So, at least at that point, airlines had the discretion to let people on board without ID. Some didn't tell people they had that discretion and just blamed the whole mess on the FAA. Others declined to allow anyone on board without ID. But the decision to ask was made for them by the feds.
