“Secure Flight is a critical tool that will further improve aviation security and fix the major customer service issue of watch list misidentifications, a frustratingly common occurrence for travelers under the existing airline-based system,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We know that threats to our aviation system persist, and Secure Flight will help us better protect the traveling public while creating a more consistent passenger prescreening process, ultimately reducing the number of misidentification issues.”

Airlines will still be required under Secure Flight to collect a passenger’s full name, date of birth, and gender when making an airline reservation. The additional information is expected to prevent most inconveniences at the airport, and will be particularly important for those with names similar to those on the watch list.

“Secure Flight will improve security by maintaining the confidentiality of the government’s watch list information while fully protecting passengers’ privacy and civil liberties,” said TSA Administrator Kip Hawley. “Ensuring privacy has been a cornerstone of this program and TSA has developed a comprehensive privacy plan to incorporate privacy laws and practices into all areas of Secure Flight.”

TSA will receive limited information for each passenger, as well as for certain non-traveling individuals, such as those escorting a minor or disabled passenger to the gate. TSA will determine if their information matches the No Fly or Selectee lists and will transmit results back to airlines. Data retention for the vast majority of individuals will be no more than seven days.

Secure Flight will be implemented in two phases. The program will initially assume the watch list matching responsibility for passengers on domestic flights from aircraft operators beginning in early 2009. The second stage, targeted to begin in late 2009, the Secure Flight program would assume from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the international air carriers the watch list matching function for passengers on international flights.

The 9/11 Commission Report to Congress recommends that the watch list matching function “should be performed by TSA and it should utilize the larger set of watch lists maintained by the Federal Government.”