WASHINGTON – Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) President and CEO Kevin M. Burke today applauded the announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to extend the implementation of REAL ID requirements as the country continues its work to recover from the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. ACI-NA is the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada.

“We welcome the announcement from DHS Secretary Mayorkas extending the implementation of REAL ID requirements for commercial airline passengers. The effects of the pandemic over the past year have been detrimental to the travel industry, and social distancing requirements have brought more challenges to those attempting to obtain compliant identification in-person at departments of motor vehicles. Extending REAL ID requirements until May 2023 will help provide additional time to educate travelers and ensure they have the ability to more easily apply to obtain REAL ID-compliant identification so they will be ready to travel. Since the start of the pandemic, ACI-NA has urged DHS to extend the deadline until there is a sufficiently high saturation of REAL ID compliant licenses so that implementation does not unnecessary delay travelers. We are encouraged by today’s announcement of this extension and remain committed to working with our federal partners to ensure REAL ID is implemented efficiently at the appropriate time.”

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