BUFFALO (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns is collaborating with TSA and the NFTA to make sure that residents know about new requirements for boarding domestic flights.
Starting October 1, 2020, you will need a REAL ID, passport or enhanced license to board a domestic flight. EC Clerk Mickey Kearns has announced an initiative to make sure residents know what documentation is needed to obtain a REAL ID. @NewsRadio930 pic.twitter.com/7GDcBktlr6
— Brendan Keany (@BrendanKeany) May 20, 2019
Beginning October 1, 2020, people will need to show a REAL ID, passport or enhanced license to make the process of boarding a domestic flight easier. On Monday morning, Kearns held a press conference at Buffalo Niagara International Airport to announce a campaign of getting out into the community to inform residents of the switch.
"Five hundred days from today, on October 1, 2020, you will have to have a REAL ID or an enhanced driver's license to be compliant to get on an airline to fly domestically, to go to Canada to get into a federal building, and all of the county clerks throughout the state are bracing for this push at the end for granting REAL ID and enhanced driver's licenses," said Kearns. "My office has started an commenced the CLERK ON THE GO [campaign>, and our goal is to have 250 outreaches throughout the community."
According to TSA, REAL ID is a federally backed, coordinated effort to improve reliability of driver's licenses and identification cards, and the improvement measures are designed to inhibit a potential terrorist's ability to successfully use fraudulent identification.
To ease the process, as many people will have to make the switch from their standard ID's, Kearns will be engaging the community often in the next 500 days to make sure residents are aware of what they need to bring to the DMV to obtain a REAL ID, as well as the best process of getting one.
"We want people to be ready when they come into the clerk's office; we want to prepare them," he said. "We want them to make a reservation prior to them coming in. We know that license renewals are up, and if you add in the additional requirement of the federal government, the REAL ID, there will be no exceptions come October 1, 2020."
For clarification, NFTA Aviation Director Bill Vanacek urged people to obtain a REAL ID or an enhanced driver's license before the deadline, but he also noted that you shouldn't necessarily panic if you forget.
"I just want to let everybody know that if you do show up on October 1, 2020, and you don't have a REAL ID, that doesn't necessarily mean you can't board a flight, but the process to be screened is going to be significantly longer," said Vanacek.
