"Travelers may be able to opt for paid lanes to speed through Hartsfield"

Monday, December 24, 2007

Travelers may be able to opt for paid lanes to speed through airport
Hartsfield-Jackson also mulling three new security lines
By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution


More security lanes - including some that fliers would pay to use - could be
in store for the sometimes clogged security checkpoints at Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport over the next few months.

Airport officials are reviewing two proposals to provide so-called Lexus
fast lanes, which customers - primarily business fliers - could use for a
fee. Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Ben DeCosta, meanwhile, in a
separate move has ordered his staff to study the feasibility of adding three
more security lanes to the 28 that now exist, possibly by summer.

The world's busiest airport sought proposals for the paid security lanes
earlier this year, and two companies submitted plans by the deadline this
month.

One, New York-based Clear, has already begun signing up customers in
Atlanta, even though airport officials have not decided when - or even if -
the paid fast lanes will be added at Hartsfield-Jackson. Another company,
FLO Corp., has also bid for the project, but currently is not operating any
paid fast lanes at any airport. Clear operates at about a dozen U.S.
airports.

Clear CEO Steven Brill said he expects the lanes to start operating by next
month, and he estimated his company has already signed up 1,500 Atlanta-area
customers. Brill, whose company operates paid lanes at a dozen U.S.
airports, has said there are 200,000 potential customers for his company's
services in metro Atlanta.

"Hartsfield is a big deal for the program," Brill said. "Atlanta is the
World Series for us."

The Clear program charges fliers $100 a year. They undergo a Transportation
Security Administration background check and have iris scans and finger
prints imprinted onto a biometric card. Customers use that card to check in
at Clear airport security checkpoints.

At the security lanes, Clear assistants help passengers remove laptops and
other items for the scanners. They must still pass through the same body and
carry-on scanners as other passengers, but some airports have set up special
"designated" lanes just for the paid customers.

Clear assures customers they can get through security in about four minutes
- a feature that has led more than 75,000 people nationwide to sign up for
the program. About 40,000 travelers use the program in Orlando, where it
began.

Roger Hedges, 63, of Marietta, signed up for the program last month at the
Hyatt on Peachtree Road, where Clear has a sign-up station. Hedges flies
three times a month from Hartsfield-Jackson on business.

"I've actually scheduled flights to avoid long security lines," Hedges said.
"Predictability is a selling point for me."

Companies that provide the paid lanes are part of the TSA's "Registered
Traveler" program. Every company's biometric card works with other
companies' airport checkpoints. A Clear customer, for example, could access
FLO checkpoints and lanes and vice versa.

DeCosta said the airport is reviewing the Clear and FLO proposals. He thinks
one benefit could be shorter lines for all travelers.

"One of the things we want to ensure is that the (paid) lanes will improve
checkpoint times for everyone, not just the people who pay to be on this
program," DeCosta said. "If the potential for improvement exists, then I'm
in favor of going forward with it."

The airport wants to keep checkpoint lines to 10-20 minutes, and it has
generally met that goal during holiday rush periods. However, lines can
occasionally surge to 40-plus minutes during morning and evening rush period
at times.

"There are many Mondays and Fridays have passenger numbers similar to the
holidays," DeCosta said. The airport has been pressuring TSA to fully staff
all of the security gates during the most crowded time. About 86 million
people a year pass through the airport.

The airport's major tenant, Delta Air Lines, has been cool to the idea of
paid lanes, like those proposed by Clear and FLO. Delta and other airlines
already offer special front-of-the-line security assistance for their top
customers.

"Given the space constraints of the Atlanta checkpoint, it is critical that
these proposals are examined closely to ensure that they do not set aside
limited real estate and security throughput to inadvertently increase wait
times for everyone," said Delta spokesman Kent Landers.

One of the ideas touted by Brill is a plan to have Clear customers pass
through security without removing their shoes. However, those shoe-scanning
machines are still being tested, and it is not clear when they will be in
service.

DeCosta, meanwhile, said he wants to look at the possibility of adding up to
three additional security gates, no matter what happens on the paid lanes.

His staff is already looking at how the airport can add the lanes before the
busy summer travel season.

One major consideration, DeCosta said, is making sure the TSA can adequately
staff any additional lanes.



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