Next-of-Kin Names Required of Some Airline Passengers

WASHINGTON — Airlines will have to request the names of the next of kin from international passengers, which may upset those boarding flights but will give helpful information to families should an accident occur.

The requirement, which takes effect on Thursday, will apply only to U.S. citizens arriving or departing on international flights. Supporters hope the requirement will eventually be expanded to domestic flights.

The new rule was spawned by the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Because it was an international flight, the State Department had the responsibility for notifying families. It took more than seven hours for Pan Am to provide the passenger manifest, and the State Department had difficulty locating relatives because many first names were just initials, and some last names were incomplete.

In 1990, Congress passed the Aviation Security Improvement Act, which included a requirement that airlines quickly provide victim information to the State Department.

It wasn’t until the TWA Flight 800 explosion two years ago, however, that relatives pressured the government to write a rule for carrying out the requirement.

Under the new rule, airlines must ask for the information before passengers board a flight. The information will be destroyed once the flight reaches its destination. In addition, airlines may not use the information for marketing.