Air travelers who can prove they don't belong on terrorist watch lists could be spared extra scrutiny under a new program that addresses the public's biggest complaint about aviation safety, the nation's Homeland Security chief said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told USA TODAY that the program will be announced today and is aimed at the tens of thousands of travelers who are pulled aside for questions at airports because their names match those on government watch lists.

"It's the Ted Kennedy problem," Chertoff said, referring to Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy who announced in 2004 he had been repeatedly stopped at airports because his name was similar to someone flagged for possible links to terrorism.

In such situations, airlines are required to check identification and ask several security questions to make sure the traveler is not the person on the watch list. Under the new program, innocent travelers would have a new option: to allow the airline to add their names and dates of birth into company records.

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That way, the airline from that day on would know those travelers already have proven their names are on the watch list coincidentally.

"After that, they will get their boarding pass just like everyone else does," Chertoff said. On subsequent trips, those fliers also would be allowed to obtain their boarding passes over the Internet.

There have been countless stories of celebrities, children and senior citizens being mistaken for people on watch lists and subject to tougher airport scrutiny. Identity mistakes "come up a lot in the Muslim community," Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley said.

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