The Transportation Security Administration last month said it is on track to roll out Registered Traveler programs at up to 20 airports this year, on the condition that approved private-sector operators "make the necessary business arrangements with host airports and air carriers and get security approval from TSA for the proposed configuration." So far, two vendors—Verified Identity Pass, through its Clear product, and Saflink, which through a partnership with other vendors created FLO—have said they have technology and agreements in place and are poised to launch at airports on the scheduled start date or shortly thereafter.
TSA essentially is putting a cap on the number of airports that can launch this year, scaling back what initially was planned to be a nationwide rollout.
Airports could be up and running as soon as June 20—which since last year has been slated as the launch date—but TSA said, "Subject to public demand for the RT program, TSA would expect RT to operate on a national scale next year." TSA is calling the program in pilot mode and a spokesperson said, "We're characterizing this as the first phase of a national rollout."
TSA asserted that it is on track to fulfill its vision of a public-private partnership that offers expedited airport security screening to travelers who pay a fee and submit to a background check
(BTN, Nov. 14, 2005). "TSA is working with airports and private-sector providers, and we will enable the private sector to launch Registered Traveler programs as soon as this summer," said TSA assistant secretary Kip Hawley. "Security will be maintained, the program will be paid for by the private sector, and it will not disadvantage the general public when they fly."
TSA did not say specifically which benefits would be granted to registered travelers. "While the combination of benefits and security measures available at each participating airport may vary, all RT travelers should receive an expedited and more convenient checkpoint experience," TSA said in a statement.
The National Business Travel Association—a longtime advocate of a Registered Traveler-type program—continued its support for TSA's advancements in making the concept a reality. NBTA last month also joined forces with Airports Council International-North America, American Society of Travel Agents and the Voluntary Credentialing Industry Coalition to work together to help TSA move toward its launch. "The good thing about the announcement is it would be next to impossible for them to go back on this now, whereas everything in the past they've been hedging and not clear on when the rollout date is," said NBTA executive director and COO Bill Connors. "They said 20 airports and that tells me they're going to be hard-pressed to go backwards on this."
TSA also said that it would award a contract to a company "to assist in the development of the verification and validation standards" for vendors applying for Registered Traveler vendor status. "Before TSA approves the beginning of a pilot, the airport or airline and its vendors must submit their validation and verification statement prepared by an independent audit firm," a TSA spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted that the agency would not disclose which companies have approached TSA to become accredited vendors. However, Saflink, Verified Identity Pass and Unisys are in various phases of formulating programs and gaining airport partners. TSA is mandating that programs from all vendors be interoperable.
Although Verified Identity Pass is the only company currently operating a Registered Travel program—with a Clear lane in Orlando—Saflink said it is ready to move forward. "Because of our background in cards and biometrics, we could issue a card today that would work in Orlando," said Saflink CEO Glenn Argenbright, noting that raises questions about how TSA will articulate interoperability standards—and whether it leaves companies the option to levy charges when a card they issue is used at another company's checkpoint.
"We know TSA will mandate interoperability," he said. "The bigger question: Is there going to be some sort of fee that we'd have to transfer back and forth between the various companies? We don't know that yet, because TSA hasn't weighed in."
It remains a possibility—one that could in part sour some of the promise of interoperability for travel buyers, whose travelers may have to pay fees on top of annual enrollments.
"Take the ATM issue. It's still interoperable, but if you use someone else's card you have to pay for the right to do it," NBTA's Connors said. "We're not advocating that, but I understand that thinking."
This is the model Verified Identity Pass is endorsing. "What we have proposed in our submissions to TSA is a model whereby if a competitor's card comes through a kiosk at our airport, we charge a set fee based on the overall cost of maintaining a security kiosk based on the number of people who use them. It might be $2 or $3," said CEO Steven Brill. "Each card would have an identifier for the company, not the person, so each month we'd send a bill to company XYZ."
While TSA would set such standards by June 20, Verified Identity Pass and Saflink are marketing similar programs as both are seeking travel industry partners, both offer an annual membership in the same price range and both claim to be in active discussions with airports—and boast that they are set for launch this summer.
Saflink last week said it would launch FLO—or Fast Lane Option—with partners including Microsoft, Johnson Controls and ID Technology Partners. The alliance last week also added JPMorgan Chase to facilitate "application intake and processing services and collect program fees from subscribers," and The Paradies Shops, which owns more than 500 specialty stores in more than 60 airports and hotels nationwide, as a marketing partner.
"If you look at our alliance, we brought in experts in their field," said Saflink CEO Glenn Argenbright. "We know how to build a card, biometric readers, kiosks and systems where we can lock anything and unlock anything; that's what we do. Expedia knows corporate travel managers, Johnson Controls knows the airports, Microsoft knows the database back end. I don't know Dick Butkus about credit cards, about marketing a card-based program to a broad consumer audience, but JPMorgan Chase has 94 million cardholders."
Saflink, which last week touted its wares to airport representatives at the American Association of Airport Executives conference in San Diego, said it has operational kiosks for authentication and enrollment and has been in discussions with between 15 and 20 airports that "have a high level of interest," Argenbright said. "We've been talking to them for about six months," he said. "Some will probably launch in June or July. I would argue or say with strong conviction that you'll see two of the top 10 airports in this first round."
VIP's Brill said several partnerships forged with airports should come to fruition this summer.
"This will definitely make it possible for us to launch enrollment by June or maybe earlier at San Jose, Indianapolis and Cincinnati, with whom we already have agreements, plus continue our program in Orlando," said Brill. "We expect to be in a position with agreements and plans in hand to launch in at least eight more airports this summer and fall, with more to follow by the end of the year and in the first quarter of 2007."
"Verified and our model are very similar," Argenbright said. "We're looking at a subscription-based model. Where you probably differentiate our two programs are on benefits and general approach. We're probably both going to charge between $79.95 and $100. I would see us staying right around the $80 range. If TSA, for example, raises or adds fees that aren't there today, then we'd be in the position to raise some costs."
Verified Identity Pass is charging about $80 for annual enrollment, but Brill last week said, "Retail price is going to be somewhere between $75 and $95. We just don't know where that will fall."
Saflink plans to differentiate itself through its partnership with JPMorgan Chase and other payment companies by including a credit card component. "That's not what Chase is doing right now—they're a processing partner and payment partner—we've clearly had discussion with them. We're angling to eventually tie it to a credit card, probably in 2007 or 2008," Argenbright said.
Brill, meanwhile, has fervently said the company would not partner with credit card issuers to launch a payment component, but rather would seek agreements with bank issuers and payment networks as marketing partners.
Verified Identity Pass last month announced separate partnerships with TQ3Navigant and Travel and Transport, which will offer clients tiered discounts for Verified Identity Pass biometric smart cards that facilitate the airport security process.