The security area of Terminal 2 of Raleigh-Durham International Airport, photographed on April 3, 2024. Ethan Hyman [email protected]

RALEIGH

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration says 81% of people who now pass through its airport checkpoints nationwide present a REAL ID or some other identification that complies with federal standards that take effect May 7.

But what happens if you’re one of the millions who don’t? Will you still make your flight?

Despite speculation to the contrary, the Trump administration says it will begin finally enforcing stricter identification requirements that Congress enacted in 2005 in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

That means starting May 7 anyone hoping to pass through a TSA security checkpoint to board a domestic flight will need to show a state-issued REAL ID driver’s license or ID card or some other acceptable form of ID. Options include a U.S. or foreign passport; a permanent resident card; a DHS trusted traveler card; a tribal photo ID; or a U.S. Department of Defense ID, including those issued to dependents. (For a full list, go to www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification.)

The requirements apply to all travelers 18 years or older, including those enrolled in TSA’s PreCheck program.

What will happen at the airport?

Travelers without a REAL ID or its equivalent face the possibility of not being permitted through the security checkpoint and onto their flight, said TSA spokesman Dan Velez.

But more likely, you will be subjected to additional screening to determine you are who you say you are.

“The TSA officer will ask you to complete an identity verification process which includes collecting information such as your name and current address, as well as other information, to confirm your identity,” Velez wrote in an email.

That extra screening will likely slow you down, so if you’ll want to arrive at the airport a little early, said Greg Hawko, the federal security director at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Hawko says the agency’s goal is to get everyone through the checkpoint, but it will likely take longer.

The screening process will be the same at each airport, Hawko told WFAE in Charlotte.

“But what that looks like at each airport may be different,” he said. “It depends on the amount of real estate that’s available in the security checkpoints.”

TSA expects many will show up unprepared

North Carolina has been issuing REAL IDs since May 2017. That means nearly everyone with a current North Carolina driver’s license has had the option to get one.

But the Division of Motor Vehicles says a little more than half of licensed drivers, about 4.4 million, now hold REAL IDs. More than 4 million others do not, perhaps because they don’t expect to fly or visit a federal facility that requires identification or they plan to use one of the other acceptable forms of ID.

But the TSA expects many people will show up at airports unprepared for the new requirements, Hawko said. He notes that people routinely try to bring bottles of water through TSA checkpoints, even though that hasn’t been allowed for years.

“Absolutely, there will be people who are surprised,” he said. “We will have people who have never heard of REAL ID.”