Secure Flight, the government project to take over the job of matching airline passenger names against terrorist watchlists, reached a milestone this week, when the Department of Homeland Security said the Transportation Security Administration is performing 100% of watchlist matching for domestic flights.
The transition for international flights by U.S. and foreign airlines is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
TSA began implementing Secure Flight last year, after working with the industry to develop procedures to incorporate additional data into reservations records, including date of birth, gender and full name as it appears on the government ID that will be presented at the airport.
The new arrangement is designed to cut down on false positives and mistaken identities. According to DHS, "99% of passengers will be cleared by Secure Flight to print boarding passes."
The remainder "will be subjected to secondary screening, a law enforcement interview or prohibition from boarding an aircraft, depending on the specific case," DHS said.