TSA says compliance has jumped sharply since the enforcement deadline
Between 95% and 99% of travelers are now presenting REAL ID-compliant licenses or another acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints, the Transportation Security Administration said in its own February 2026 announcement — the agency’s most recently published compliance figure heading into the busy fall travel season.
That’s a marked jump from where things stood when full enforcement began. TSA had reported roughly 81% compliance in the weeks after the REAL ID Act’s enforcement deadline took effect on May 7, 2025, per the agency’s own accounting at the time. The newer 95-to-99% range reflects nearly a year of additional compliant-ID issuance by states, plus the rollout of a new fallback option for travelers who still show up without one.
REAL ID-compliant licenses carry a star marking in the upper right corner and require applicants to have shown proof of identity, Social Security number and residency when the card was issued at a state DMV. Travelers can also use a valid U.S. passport, passport card, military ID or several other TSA-accepted documents instead of a star-marked license, and all of those count toward the agency’s compliance figures.
The $45 fallback that’s driving the numbers up
Much of the recent jump traces back to TSA ConfirmID, a $45 identity-verification option the agency introduced in December 2025 and formally rolled out on February 5, 2026, according to the TSA’s own press release. Travelers without a compliant license or a passport can pay the fee online at least 24 hours before their flight, receive a receipt via pay.gov, and present that receipt along with a standard government-issued ID at the checkpoint, a process valid for a 10-day travel window.
“TSA ConfirmID has been a huge success due to ongoing collaboration with our airline, airport and industry partners,” said Steve Lorincz, TSA’s Acting Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations, in the agency’s release. TSA said the added verification step has had “negligible operational impact” on checkpoint wait times, crediting advance coordination with airlines and airports ahead of the rollout.
What it means heading into fall
The timing matters. TSA has pointed to this identification standard as the one travelers should expect through the busy fall and holiday travel stretch, when checkpoint lines are typically at their most crowded and least forgiving of last-minute ID problems. Travelers who haven’t yet upgraded can check their state’s REAL ID issuance process, apply for a U.S. passport, which has always satisfied the requirement on its own, or budget the extra time and $45 for TSA ConfirmID if a flight is coming up fast. For most flyers, though, the agency’s own numbers suggest the REAL ID transition many dreaded for years has, by TSA’s own account, largely settled into a nonissue at the gate.
