Still facing critics from within the government and the travel industry, a nationwide registered traveler programis beginning to take shape. In just the last few weeks, Verified Identity Pass launched its Clear program in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, New York JFK (in partnership with British Airways) and San Jose, and announced plans for Newark (in partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways).
The company also rolled out shoe-scanning technology at its debut station in Orlando--allowing many Clear participants to keep their shoes on at security checkpoints--and officially launched coast-to-coast interoperability, "which allows members to use their Clear card at any registered traveler lane across the country."
Meanwhile, other RT program providers are gearing up for program deployment. Saflink, for example, recently received Transportation Security Administration authorization to move forward with the FLO (Fast Lane Option) program, meant to provide "the complete Registered Traveler credentialing process and its operational use in airports." The notification from TSA helps Saflink in finalizing contracts with interested airports and "takes us one step closer" to rolling out the program during 2007," said Glenn Argenbright, the company's president and general manager of registered traveler solutions.
According to published reports, Unisys plans to soon implement its RT program at Reno/Tahoe International Airport. In all, TSA said five companies have met the minimum criteria for offering RT programs to airports.
Despite the increased activity and a growing number of enrollees (according to Verified Identity Pass), the registered traveler concept continues to elicit skepticism. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, described RT as a "glorified frequent flyer" program, according to an Aviation Dailyreport. "I'm not certain that a new program where people pay extra money to get in a lane will do any better because they still will have to go through the same screening. They're just in a different lane."
The Air Transport Association last summer urged airport operators not to endorse the program and in October again detailed its opposition. "Modifications in the way in which passengers are pre-screened must be aimed at improving overall screening efficiency and reducing passenger inconvenience," according to ATA comments filed in response to a TSA request for feedback on RT draft standards. "The RT program has not demonstrated that it will deliver either of those indispensable results. The RT program would directly affect the screening process on which passengers, airports and airlines depend. If it does not succeed, they will suffer. We regard that risk as unacceptable and unnecessary."
Though most of ATA's members--including nearly every major U.S. commercial carrier--have not outwardly opposed RT, none has publicly endorsed the program, either.
Other industry observers have questioned the benefits and suggested the very concept of categorizing certain travelers as lower risk may jeopardize security. "Background checks are based on the dangerous myth that we can somehow pick terrorists out of a crowd if we could identify everyone. Unfortunately, there isn't any terrorist profile that prescreening can uncover. There isn't even a good list of known terrorists to check people against," wrote Bruce Schneier, author of several security-related books, in a recent New York Timesop-ed. "The truth is that whenever you create two paths through security--a high-security path and a low-security path--you have to assume that the bad guys will find a way to exploit the low-security path."
Even leadership at TSA, which has been developing the program since early 2004, acknowledged that RT is not yet ready for prime time. "It doesn't quite get us to the level of comfort where we could change the checkpoint process radically," said TSA director Kip Hawley this month during a U.S. Senate Committee hearing on aviation security. "When hopefully we get to that point, it will be a slam dunk from a cost justification."
To get to that point, program providers like Verified Identity Pass are testing such timesaving devices as shoe scanning technology. Developed with General Electric, the Clear shoe scanner "detects the presence of explosives and metal in shoes. Those members whose shoes contain no explosives or metal are able to keep shoes on at the checkpoint." Verified Identity Pass plans to deploy the devices throughout the Clear network.
The company also is working on new technology that would "exempt Clear members from removing their suit coats and other outer garments in the coming months," as well as x-ray scanners that could eliminate the need to extract laptop computers.
While such new technologies would improve the value proposition of the program, travel management professionals still must grapple with the pros and cons of the RT concept. On one hand, the program is voluntary and designed specifically to speed frequent travelers through checkpoints, reduce frustration and improve productivity. On the other, it costs about $100 per traveler, requires in-depth background checks and, according to some detractors, presents data privacy concerns.
Verified Identity Pass claims 36,000 Clear members, including 1,000 new ones in New York. Beginning Feb. 19, the company will deploy "mobile enrollment units" at the Hyatt Regency Grand Central. It also has offered to conduct on-site enrollments for interested corporate clients.
Its next steps include launching the Clear program at New York JFK's Terminal 1 with Air France, at Newark's Terminal B with Virgin Atlantic and in Toronto Pearson International Airport. "Agreements with several other airports and airlines are expected to be announced during the first quarter of 2007," said Verified Identity Pass CEO Steven Brill.
Biometrics-based airport screening programs also are gaining visibility outside the United States, including systems in Amsterdam, Jakarta and Paris. One of the latest is in Japan, where ANA and Japan Airlines are participating in a government trial at Tokyo Narita Airport. The program includes ID cards containing passport data and such biometrics as fingerprints and frequent flyer numbers--and also allows participants to receive boarding passes when using "automatic gates" in the immigration control area. "The results of the trial will be used in the development of a new generation of airport procedures designed to simplify and speed up movement through the airport while maintaining maximum security," according to an ANA statement.