Summer travelers should make sure the names on their reservations and tickets match their identification to be in compliance with new regulations from the Transportation Security Administration, according to travel agents and the federal agency.

The agency said a new initiative, the Secure Flight program, is being phased in this summer "to enhance the security of domestic and international commercial air travel through the use of improved watch-list matching."

The TSA said the program is being implemented this summer, when more than 195 million passengers are expected to take to the skies.

Since May 15, airlines have been asking travelers to make sure the ID they plan to use at the airport exactly matches the name they booked the ticket under. However, the TSA initially has built some flexibility into the system in the event boarding passes do not display the exact name used to book the trip.

The agency says differences such as the use of a middle initial instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, or prefixes and suffixes, should not cause a problem for the passenger this summer.

On Aug. 15, airlines will also begin asking passengers to provide their date of birth and gender. The TSA's goal is for Secure Flight to be fully operating in early 2010 for all domestic flights and the end of 2010 for all international flights.

The agency said the name used to book a ticket is checked against a watch list before a boarding pass is issued. Secure Flight is designed as a behind-the-scenes process to compare the information you provide against government watch lists.

The additional information that you may be asked to provide, such as date of birth and gender, will be used to better determine which individuals are on the government watch list.

Rachel Shimamoto, manager of Hawai'i-based Travel Ways Inc., said travel agents are explaining the federal changes to customers.

"We feel that the traveling public is not aware of this," she said.

Even though the airlines have been tasked with collecting the information, Shimamoto thinks telling travelers early will help smooth check-in.

"If the names that we have are not in sync, this would delay their check-in and would place a red flag to the TSA," she said.

Officially, the TSA is asking that the airlines gather the information but Shimamoto said travel agents are doing their part to help make the process go smoothly.

Shimamoto said she hopes that awareness of the new procedure will help prepare people for questions that they might not expect — such as gender and date of birth — which can be touchy subjects.