The clock is ticking to get your Real ID in North Carolina
No more delays this time: You need to have a Real ID by May 7 if you want to travel by air, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Why it matters: After that, Real IDs or valid passports will be required for domestic travel and entry into certain government facilities like military bases, our Axios Richmond colleagues reported recently.
By the numbers: The North Carolina DMV has issued 4.7 million Real IDs since May 2017, spokesperson Marty Homan tells Axios.
In January, the NCDMV issued 64,220 Real IDs.
Between the lines: The IDs are required if you're flying from Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and other domestic airports.
But Real ID is technically optional in North Carolina, meaning it's not required to drive, vote, open a bank account or apply for or receive federal benefits.
Real IDs have a star in a black circle in the top right corner, differentiating them from a regular license.
[Go deeper: Everything you need to know about Real ID in North Carolina]
Catch up quick: Real ID implementation was delayed due to " the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic." Congress passed the policy in 2005. The goal is to make driver's licenses harder to fake, Axios Ashley Mahoney reported.
How it works: To get your Real ID, you must go to the DMV in person and bring documents proving U.S. citizenship, your social security number and North Carolina residency.
Find a full list of acceptable documents here.
Yes, but: Be sure to plan ahead, Ashley says. Many local DMVs are slammed and don't have much availability in the near term.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
17 hours ago
- Miami Herald
JetBlue is pulling out of the Miami airport, but will remain at FLL. See details
JetBlue Airways will halt service at Miami International Airport, the airline said on Saturday. The Long Island City-based carrier cited poor financial performance. JetBlue has a small footprint at MIA, with one or two daily flights between MIA and Boston. But 'to free aircraft for new routes, we've recently made the decision to end a small number of unprofitable flights including between Boston and Miami,' Derek Dombrowski, director of corporate communications, said in an email statement sent to the Miami Herald. The changes are effective Sept. 3, he said. Travelers booked on cancelled flights 'will have the option to fly via Fort Lauderdale or receive a full refund to their original form of payment,' Dombrowski said. The move was a business decision. 'We continually evaluate how our network is performing and make changes as needed,' Dombrowski said. JetBlue informed MIA of the changes on Friday, Greg Chin, communications director for Miami-Dade Aviation Department, said in a phone call with the Miami Herald on Saturday. He didn't elaborate on other details. JetBlue's Fort Lauderdale presence JetBlue will continue to fly to Boston from nearby Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as well as West Palm Beach, Dombrowski said. The airline has a strong presence at FLL. In 2024, JetBlue served about 6.8 million passengers at FLL, down 2.1% from 2023 but still the second largest carrier at that airport, only behind Spirit. It carried 19% of all travelers to and from the Broward County airport. This year, JetBlue remains FLL's second largest carrier. Through April 30, the airline had 2.2 million passengers, even though that's down 6% from the same period in 2024. In 2021, to make a larger bet on South Florida as the COVID-19 pandemic was still in full force, JetBlue expanded at MIA, adding as many as 14 daily flights, including as many as four times a day to Boston. The airline also added direct flights between MIA and New York-JFK, Newark, Los Angeles and Hartford. Since then, JetBlue has scaled back service in Miami due to falling demand. It was also slowed down by the 2024 ruling of a federal judge in Massachusetts that blocked an attempted merger with Broward-based Spirit, citing anti-competitive laws. On Saturday, JetBlue had a total of two arrivals at MIA, each one from Boston, according to the airport's flight tracker. And it had one departure, also to Boston.
CNBC
2 days ago
- CNBC
The flight patterns of private-jet setters are changing, says NetJets CEO
Market volatility and geopolitical tensions haven't slowed demand for private jets, although the travel patterns of the wealthy are changing, according to the president of NetJets. The summer travel season is shaping up to be another strong year for NetJets, with wealthy Americans traveling both within the U.S. and Europe, NetJets President Patrick Gallagher told CNBC. "In terms of what we see in future demand, there's really been no signs of slowdown, even in this period of market volatility and uncertainty and tariff concerns," Gallagher said. "We watch all the leading indicators very closely: How much are our existing customers flying? Are they giving us less notice to book a flight? Or are they still booking with normal travel patterns? Are they going to different places? Is travel to Europe this summer down compared to last year? So far, we have not seen any indicators of our business, at least at NetJets, really slowing down." Gallagher said he is seeing a slowdown in Europeans booking NetJets to come to the U.S. He said the "sales cycles got a little longer," in the spring, as tariff concerns peaked. It's also too early to tell whether the Middle East conflict will impact travel. Yet on the whole, the economic and market turbulences of April and May have quickly subsided and set the stage for a strong summer and fall. While overall private jet demand has cooled slightly since the Covid-era peak, it remains well above 2019 levels. According to Private Jet Card Comparisons , the U.S. saw over 3 million private jet flights in 2024, down from 3.1 in 2023, marking a 1% decline. NetJets, with its unrivaled safety record and successful model of selling fractional shares of planes, remains the overwhelmingly dominant leader. The Columbus, Ohio-based company, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, completed over 500,000 flights last year with 13,600 owners, Gallagher said. The company's 1,100 aircraft would make it one of the nation's largest airlines measured by fleet and it's used by 40% of the Fortune 500 companies. NetJets purchased 90 new planes last year and expects a similar number in 2026, Gallagher said. In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Gallagher mapped out the changing migration patterns of NetJets clients, the surprising menu choices of flyers, and the rare quality the company looks for in pilots. You can watch the full video here , but here are some highlights: Wealth migration "We've seen a migration to the Sun Belt, not just at NetJets, but across the high-net-worth space. With that, we've seen less seasonality in places like Palm Beach, and Naples, Florida, or Scottsdale, [Arizona], which are becoming very busy year-round. You see less of that, that up and down demand. We've seen increases in places like Austin, Texas; Nashville; Columbus, Ohio. All those cities have grown a lot in recent years and climb the ladder in terms of where they stack rank by demand. Meanwhile, we've seen LA lose ground from a traffic perspective. We've seen San Diego lose traffic." The Bay area is probably "our area of greatest market share measured by the percentage of flights of business jets departing. Particularly out of San Jose." Internationally, Gallagher said he sees continued strong demand for Americans headed to Europe or even flying within Europe. "One of the things people love about NetJets is I can own a share of an airplane here, and maybe I fly over commercially, but then I can use NetJets to hop around between Nice and London and wherever else I want to go while I'm there. And so that's a big advantage of our program, is giving people the ability to do that. We think we'll set new records there this summer." However, he said "we've definitely seen a change in Europeans flying in the U.S.," with slower traffic. "There has been a little bit of a reduction." On the growing demand for 'incognito flights' If you own your own plane, your tail number and location can be tracked and posted to social media by a growing number of online flight trackers. Elon Musk's planes, for instance, are frequently tracked on social media. Taylor Swift was called out last year for taking 98 flights on her Dassault Falcon 7x. With NetJets and charters, however, passengers remain anonymous so their movements can't be tracked. "We have clients that own their own airplanes and choose to use NetJets when they want to be able to fly incognito," Gallagher said. "NetJets provides that, that anonymity, because all anybody is ever going to see is that familiar NetJets striping on the aircraft, and they have no idea, no way to track who's on board." Most popular food order on private jet While some owners get delivery from their favorite restaurants or chefs, serving hot meals or fancy feasts on a private jet can be complicated, given the need to refrigerate and reheat food and keep it at safe temperatures. NetJetters often prefer to bring their own snacks from home or keep it basic. "The most common catering order on our plane is crudite," Gallagher said. "Or it's a charcuterie board, it's sliced fruit trays." With catering, NetJets has moved "towards simplicity and consistency so that we can ensure a consistent experience on board the aircraft," he said. "Catering is not as easy as you might think." The wine pairings, however, are expertly curated, since NetJets has a sommelier partnership with Andy Chabot at Blackberry Farm, the famed Tennessee foodie resort. The special quality NetJets looks for in pilots Gallagher said he think the company's pilots make a difference from a customer service standpoint, noting that "on the majority of our fleet, the smaller aircraft, the two pilots are doing everything for the customer on board that flight, and they're the best ambassadors we have to our brand." "It really starts with finding somebody who's got that service heart along with being a fantastic aviator," he added. "Fortunately, we've been very lucky to be able to find those people, and we enjoy great retention rates of our pilots." On the shortage of private jet hangers Just as the proliferation of mega-yachts has led to a shortage of mega-dock space, the rise of private jet fleets has created a hangar shortage. Just finding hangar space for NetJet's airplanes can be a challenge, Gallagher said. "At some of our busiest locations, we're actually having to deadhead aircraft out of those locations at night, just because there's no place to park them," he said. "And so, so we're actively pursuing a number of different real estate projects all over the country — frankly, all over the world — to ensure that we have the ability to move where we need to move, and can control as much ramp and hangar space as we can through our partners." On sustainability Gallagher also talked about carbon concerns. "NetJets is the largest consumer of sustainable aviation fuel within our industry, and frankly, relative to the overall minute portion of overall jet fuel that we consume," he said. "We also offer carbon offset programs to our customers, so they can choose to buy those if they wish." On jet-setting pets High-net-worth flyers aren't the only passengers on NetJet's planes. "We flew 25,000 or so pets last year, and that's, that's a big driver of why people choose to fly NetJets," Gallagher said. While it's mostly dogs and cats, "we've flown parrots. We've flown pot-bellied pigs," he noted.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
What happened to Jonathan Toews in 2-year absence before Jets contract?
Jonathan Toews is officially back in the NHL after a multi-year hiatus. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and former Chicago Blackhawks captain reportedly signed a one-year deal with his hometown Winnipeg Jets and will be back on the ice in 2025-26. It's been a long road for Toews, who announced he was stepping away from hockey for health reasons in August 2023, but refused to call it a retirement. Now at 37 years old and, hopefully, back to full strength the former Selke-winner is ready to revive his career. If you haven't been following along, here's what Toews has been up to since he last took the ice. What happened to Jonathan Toews? Toews' struggles really began years before his hiatus. The center missed the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season while dealing with chronic inflammatory response syndrome. He planned to return for the 2021-22 season, but that return was complicated by lingering effects of long COVID and CIRS. The 2021-22 health problems stretched into 2022-23, a season in which he played just 53 games and scored a career-low 31 points as the Blackhawks continued to crater in the standings. Toews' contract expired at the end of the season, along with Patrick Kane's, and the Blackhawks declined to re-sign their captain and accept it was time to rebuild. That led to Toews taking a break from hockey, though he always made clear his intentions to return. What did Toews do on his hiatus? A week or so after announcing he was stepping away, Toews began his hiatus by... playing hockey. He participated in Marian Hossa's farewell exhibition fundraiser in Trenčín, Slovakia and then began his adventures off the ice. He took up surfing, attended Burning Man and then went on a healing journey to India in December 2024. After his trip, Toews told GQ's Matthew Roberson his health issues began much earlier than was previously known: "If I do look back on my career, I always kind of had digestive issues, immune system issues—nothing seriously chronic or diagnosed when I was young—but definitely in my teenage years I was always battling something. "Early in my career, it was probably my second season in the NHL, I kept getting sick, I couldn't sleep at night, all these things where it just finally got to the point where I was like, 'All right.' I always thought, in my mind, that everyone else just felt that way and that was just normal, but then it got so bad that I barely made it through the playoffs that year." Notably, the GQ conversation ended with Toews declaring he was still itching to get back on the ice. In March 2025, Toews took those comments a step further by declaring his intention to return to the NHL. "I'm not satisfied the way things ended in Chicago," Toews told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. "It's not about proving anything. It's just that there's something left in the tank, and I want to explore that. I want to go have fun, have a blast, play with passion. 'I want to be able to step away from the game having said that I've given it my all.' Now he's got his chance.
