My local airport is ORF and they have always checked ID prior to entering checkpoint. It isn't done by TSA, rather the private company that used to do the checkpoint screening.

A worker sits at a podium and matches ID to the boarding pass. I guess by your 2 posts and the TSA blogger that this isn't the norm. I suppose the Federal Security Director at each airport decides if it is necessary.

I don't understand why people are so adamant against it. The reason old ladies are searched it because they could be a mule for terrorists. The same theorgy applies to the ID. If someone is a person of interest on the suspected terrorist list then he might convince someone else to reserve the ticket and check in to the point of obtaining the boarding pass. Then all that has to be done is to hand over the pass to the other person and there is a breech in security.

If it would make folks feel better, why don't the airlines check ID prior to boarding? Would it feel less like an authoritarian state if a private company asked you to prove your identity before boarding their plane?

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