San Antonio International set to introduce CLEAR kiosks

CLEAR has announced that its traveler services at San Antonio International Airport by this summer.

“We are thrilled to bring CLEAR to San Antonio, one of the fastest growing cities in the US and a major hub for both business and leisure travelers,” Effie Epstein, Director of Business Development and Strategy at CLEAR said. “CLEAR and San Antonio International Airports are aligned in creating the best possible travel experience for San Antonio passengers, and we look forward to welcoming them into the CLEAR network early this summer.”

CLEAR is a program for expedited travel, which relies on pre-registered fingerprint and iris biometrics to verify users, to move through airports without standing in the usual lines.

Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, CLEAR announced that its kiosks had been used over 1 million times in airports and have saved members over 30 million minutes in wait times.

According to a report in Venturebeat, mismanagement, a bloated cost structure and high debt forced the company to shut down in 2009. After being bought by a group of investors in 2010, the company was re-launched in 2012.

Expedited travel programs like CLEAR are becoming more commonplace in today’s travel environment, though some suggest these new programs represent an unfair advantage to some travelers. BiometricUpdate.com lead researcher Rawlson King suggests the use of a fee levy to access expedited travel programs as a premium benefit is not egalitarian. “It would be preferable if biometric technology for the automation of passport control could be extended to all travelers at a lower cost, to speed travel for everybody,” King writes.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to improve airport customer service,” Aviation Director at the San Antonio International Airport Frank Miller said. “Passengers using the biometric technology can enhance their security checkpoint process and San Antonio airport experience.”

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  fingerprint  |  travel and tourism  |  verification