Airport ‘Fast Pass’ Is Still Preparing for Takeoff

Despite this month’s airport terrorism scare, at least one major benefit for business travelers seems to be moving ahead: faster trips through security. But they come at a price.

A much-talked-about “fast pass” is being tested at Orlando International Airport in Florida. Since July 2005, more than 25,000 air travelers have signed up for and are using the Clear program, developed by Verified Identity Pass Inc. of New York.

It’s all part of the federal government’s Registered Traveler program, which it still hopes to introduce at major airports across the nation this year.

Registered travelers are subject to the same carry-on restrictions and must pass through the same screening as other passengers, but they get to use an expedited security line.

The terrorism scare underlined the need for faster trips through security -- especially for frequent fliers.

The scare “could highlight the need for the program,” said Carter Morris, spokesman for the American Assn. of Airport Executives. “Checking for bad people instead of just bad things has become more of a priority.”

“When anything like this happens, you get a lot more discussion about programs like Registered Traveler,” said Bill Connors, executive director of the Washington-based National Business Travel Assn.

But the scare didn’t deter the program’s critics. The Air Transport Assn., an airline industry group, remains opposed to Registered Traveler despite recent events.

“This terror threat has caused the [Transportation Security Administration] to focus on its resources,” said Air Transport Assn. spokesman David Castelveter. “We don’t think any of their resources should be put into Registered Traveler.”

The transport group worries that there is limited real estate at airport security checkpoints and that adding a special lane could be problematic. Castelveter scoffed at the idea that the association objects to the program because it competes with the airlines’ own first-class and premier frequent flier lanes.

“It’s not competition; it’s a hindrance,” Castelveter said. “We don’t believe that many people patronize one carrier over another to get to a special line.”

The American Civil Liberties Union also has voiced concerns about the program. “Registered Traveler would force Americans to choose between preserving their most private and personal information and speeding through airport security,” said ACLU Legislative Counsel Timothy Sparapani in November. “This isn’t a choice any traveler should be forced to make.”

Even so, the program appears to be on track.

“We still fully anticipate rolling the program out by the end of the year,” TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said. The events of Aug. 10 “haven’t impacted the program at all.”

When -- or if -- it comes to an airport near you, the program would require frequent travelers to undergo a background check, submit an iris image and fingerprints and pay an annual fee of about $80. Successful applicants get an identification card and have access to the faster security lane.

It seems to be popular in Orlando. The day after the terrorist plot was thwarted, interest in the Clear program appeared high.

“I was at the Orlando airport on Friday,” the day after the incident, said Christopher Elliott, who writes a travel blog at ellipses.elliott.org.

Clear salespeople “seemed very busy taking applications,” he said. “I think an event like this gives this kind of program some real momentum.”

Still, as the debate over how best to deploy limited security resources heats up, Registered Traveler could be vulnerable.

Clear developers, one of several private contractors including Unisys and Saflink Corp. that are vying for airports’ Registered Traveler business, remain bullish on the concept.

“We expect that as a general matter the more different kinds of threats materialize the more likely it is that a common sense risk management solution like Registered Traveler, which uses technology to help security officials make decisions about allocating their resources, will be deployed,” said Stephen Brill, founder and chief executive of Verified Identity.

The company has teamed with General Electric Co. to develop security technology devices. One is the Shoe Scanner, which detects explosives and other threats such as weapons hidden in shoes. It requires travelers to stand still for five seconds while it reads their shoes but eliminates the need to take them off, a common cause of complaints among business travelers.

Another is the Itemizer FX, which requires travelers to place a finger on a scanner that detects trace residue from explosives. Both devices are being field-tested at the Registered Traveler lane in Orlando.

“The TSA has created this environment where private industry using private funding is developing and bringing advanced technology to a security checkpoint for evaluation,” said Steve Hill, a spokesman for GE Security’s Homeland Protection division in Newark, Calif.

Private industry has taken the initiative in developing and testing these machines because there is little federal money for research and development in this area.

Airports that were planning to roll out Registered Traveler are still onboard. Mineta San Jose International Airport has signed an agreement with Verified Identity to become one of the next airports to roll out the program and is waiting for TSA approval to implement it.

The recent terror threat, said San Jose airport spokesman Rich Dressler, “just showed another reason for people to want the Registered Traveler program.”

Last month the program took another step forward when airports and the vendors competing to provide Registered Traveler programs agreed to common technical standards.

That means when you belong to the program at one airport it will work at another. But that assumes that more than one airport will operate it, and, of course, we’re not there yet.

In the meantime, we fit the new hassles into our routines.

“Business travelers have been through this drill before,” said Connors of the National Business Travel Assn.

“They’ll adapt and find a way to make it as tolerable as possible.”

*

James Gilden can be reach at james.gilden@latimes.com.