US rolls out Real ID card for air travel

People without one let off with warning

- CHRISTINE CHUNG MICHAEL LEVENSON ROBERT CHIARITO

The signs inside Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport in New York City told the story Wednesday morning: “Real ID, Enhanced, Passport” with an arrow pointing to the right, and “All Others” with an arrow pointing to the left.

After years of warnings and postponements, “all others” are no longer enough to make it past airport security checkpoints. US travellers are now required to flash a federally compliant Real ID, a passport or another approved form of identification to board domestic flights.

Deadline day started off calmly at LaGuardia, with many passengers arriving up to three hours early, heeding warnings of delays or complications from the Real ID rollout. A large number of Transportation Security Administration employees, airport staff members and police officers flanked the security entrance, advising travellers to prepare their IDs.

Arthur Perlman, 61, a former teacher from the city’s Queens borough who described himself as “slightly worried,” came four hours early for his flight to Texas. He had recently gotten a state ID card and presumed it was a Real ID.

But it had neither a star nor an American flag, meaning it was not compliant. “A week ago, I thought about it and went, ‘Oh my God!” he said. “I did a reality check.”

He briefly panicked, until he learned that a passport is also valid. He had brought that to LaGuardia.