Security Policy Alert: TSA Prepares for Peak Thanksgiving Travel
November 20, 2025
Thanksgiving Travel: TSA has shared with AAAE the agency’s 2025 Thanksgiving Day Travel Security Operations Plan. TSA expects to screen 17.76 million passengers and crew from November 25 to December 1. This represents a checkpoint volume decrease of approximately 1.8 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
TSA will have 46,854 Transportation Security Officers working during this time, about a 2.1 percent decrease compared to the same time last year, some of which is attributed to attrition and TSA’s plan to reduce TSO levels nationwide by 10 percent in 2026. In addition, during this holiday period, TSA plans to deploy 322 Passenger Screening Canine Teams and a total of 74 National Deployment Officers across 15 airports.
Fee Notice: Today’s Federal Register includes a notice from TSA for a TSA Modernized Alternative Identity Verification User Fee. As AAAE reported earlier this week, TSA is launching in January an updated alternative identity verification program for individuals who present at the TSA checkpoint without the required acceptable form of identification (AFOID), such as a REAL ID or passport. This modernized program provides an alternative that may allow these individuals to gain access to the sterile area of an airport if TSA is able to establish their identity.
TSA is charging an $18 fee to individuals that use the modernized alternative identity verification program to cover agency-incurred costs. While the fee notice states that participation in the modernized alternative identity verification program is optional, it also says that “individuals who do not have an AFOID and who choose not to use the alternative identity or cooperate with the identity verification process will NOT BE allowed to enter the sterile area of the airport”. Also, the notice states that participation in this new program does not guarantee an individual will be granted access to the sterile area of an airport.
The modernized alternative identity verification program is an automated, technology-supported service that will replace the National Transportation Vetting Center, a TSA call-center that currently conducts manual, knowledge-based identify verification for individuals that do not have an acceptable form of identification at the checkpoint (usually due to a lost or forgotten ID).
Per today’s fee notice, TSA will impose and collect a non-refundable fee of $18.00 per person per 10-day use at the time an individual registers and requests alternative identity verification using TSA-approved payment methods, which may include collection by third parties. TSA will not refund the fee, in whole or in part, to individuals whose identities are not verified or who are unable to enter the sterile area based upon the results of the identity verification process. TSA justifies its authority to collect a fee for this new program by pointing to previous Congressional authorization for a fee to cover the costs of any registered traveler program. TSA argues that the modernized alternative identity verification program is a registered traveler program since individuals are seeking access to the sterile area.
TSA is still determining the procedures for the modernized alternative identity verification program, the deployment schedule, and placement of the necessary technology. Again, AAAE has already raised several questions and concerns, particularly related to timing, operational impact, deployment, and passenger impact/experience. TSA promised to continue to engage with industry as the agency prepares to test and then roll out the program in January. We will keep you updated as we learn additional details. In the meantime, please continue to send us any questions or concerns you may have about the new alternative identity verification program.
