Wanting to skip the Transportation Security and Administration security lines at Indianapolis International Airport? A new service will be available soon, but it will cost you.
The Indianapolis Airport Authority is entering a partnership with Clear to offer a paid facial security service to skip the normal security lines prior to entering the terminal and boarding a flight.
A leader in biometric security, the security company uses data such as fingerprints or eye scans to confirm passengers’ identities. Clear plans to start the service by July 1 this year after receiving a unanimous vote of approval on March 20 by the IAA board.
Similar to TSA Precheck, Clear travelers pay an annual fee to wait in shorter lines but still go through physical screening like other passengers. Many Clear checkpoints offer free trials to travelers before they must commit to an annual membership for $209. Members can add up to three adults to a family membership for an extra $125 per person. Meanwhile, TSA Precheck starts around $78.
Several airlines, like Delta and Alaska Airlines, as well as some credit cards, such as American Express offer complimentary or discounted access to a Clear+ membership for frequent fliers or certain credit cardholders.
The agreement will provide revenue to the Indianapolis airport, with a projected $700,000 paid by Clear to the airport in the first year. Clear’s Indianapolis operations will add 33 jobs.
At Clear checkpoints, travelers with a membership forego the standard security line, instead visiting an automated Clear kiosk that takes a digital scan of the passenger’s face and uses TSA software to confirm their identity, Clear executive vice president Kyle McLaughlin told IAA board members earlier this month. Once the software confirms their identity, a gate opens to take passengers directly to the physical screening process. Facial recognition takes about five seconds, McLaughlin said.
Clear operates in 64 airports across the country and works closely with TSA workers on safety and efficiency at checkpoints. Clear workers are privately contracted, and they remained paid and working during recent government shutdowns that saw TSA employees working without pay and long lines at security checkpoints.
On a single day in mid-March during the partial government shutdown, Clear signed 20,000 people up for a membership, McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin says Clear service at airports help all passengers, not just paying members, because more screening options make for shorter lines for the general public. He added that 42,000 people in Indiana already have active Clear memberships. At Indianapolis International, Clear will operate at both the A and B security checkpoints.
“It critically allows TSA to help allocate their resources to focus on the rest of the passenger population,” McLaughlin.
Alysa Guffey writes business and development stories for IndyStar. Contact her at alysa.guffey@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: CLEAR checkpoints to open at Indianapolis airport this summer
Reporting by Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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