Press Release

 

AUGUST 16

Westchester County Airport Launches Clear® Airport Security Fast Pass. Enrollment Available Onsite At Airport and Throughout Region

 

WESTCHESTER, – Westchester County Airport and Clear®, the leading service provider of registered traveler (RT) lanes at U.S. airports, announced today the opening of the Clear program at Westchester County Airport.

 

Clear’s enrollment station at Westchester is located across from the AirTran Airways ticket counters. It is available weekdays through August 30 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Enrollees at Westchester will also be able to use their Clear card at LaGuardia, Albany, Newark, and JFK, and all other participating airports nationwide. In addition to the enrollment station within the airport, Clear has deployed enrollment kiosks at JFK, LaGuardia’s central terminal, Newark and the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central – to bring convenience and speed in applying for the airport fast pass program to the city’s business travelers. Enrollment hours are available online at flyclear.com. The fast pass lane will operate during the Airport’s busiest times and will serve all travelers out of the Airport. Clear’s “peak hour” service at Westchester Airport is an efficient way to bring this important business traveler program, which is available at the major New York-region Airports, to the county. Initially, Clear lanes will be open Mondays and Tuesdays from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., but will be extended based on the demand0 for this service.

 

Clear has enrolled over 55,000 travelers nationwide. It provides members with access to a separate, faster line through airport security checkpoints by using an identity card containing their encrypted fingerprint or iris images. The annual fee of $99.95 is charged once applicants are pre-screened and approved by the Transportation Security Administration. Applicants start their enrollment at flyclear.com and complete the process in person at an enrollment location where their biometrics (fingerprints and iris images) are captured and their identification is checked for validity.

 

“We have been anxious to launch this service here in Westchester,” County Executive Andy Spano said. “Getting to an airport hours before a scheduled flight to wait in a long security line can be frustrating. The customer service value of this program is tremendous. This service will not only benefit pre-registered travelers, it will also shorten the security lines for other airport passengers. It will make traveling easier for all our customers.”

 

Spano added, “We wanted to bring this service to our customers despite the fact that the other airports using the Registered Traveler program are much larger than the county airport. Clear responded to our Request for Proposals because they recognized the potential market that this area offers and the tremendous number of business travelers that fly out of Westchester.”

 

“We applaud the innovative way that the Westchester Airport has brought Clear to the Airport,” said Steven Brill, founder and CEO of Clear. “Now, area travelers can use Clear during Westchester’s busiest hours, as well as at the four other airports in tri-state airports that have launched the program.”

 

Brill added, “We are working with area corporations to conduct enrollments onsite at their offices, and have already seen tremendous interest from the businesses in the region.”

 

Westchester joins Clear’s growing national network. Clear cards are or will soon be accepted at: Albany, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, LaGuardia, Little Rock, New York JFK, Newark, Orlando, Reno, San Francisco, San José, and Westchester. Other airports expected to launch RT programs this fall include Washington, DC (Reagan and Dulles), Denver, and Atlanta, all of whom have issued or, in the case of Atlanta, are about to issue Requests for Proposals. Because of the TSA’s requirement that all RT cards be interoperable, Clear cards will be recognized at all of these airports no matter which service provider wins these bids.

 

Clear is already marketing and, in some cases, setting up enrollment stations in each of these cities, and using national marketing partnerships with major travel companies and hotel chains, such as Hyatt Hotels and AirTran Airways, to supplement these efforts. Any Clear card purchased at any location can be used at all participating airports.

 

About Clear

Verified Identity Pass's Clear program is the largest registered traveler program operating at U.S. airports. Clear has been operational since July 19, 2005, at Orlando International Airport and has over 55,000 members. Clear lanes are currently open at Albany, Cincinnati, Indianapolis New York JFK, Little Rock, Newark, San José, and Westchester Airports. Clear will launch its lanes at LaGuardia and San Francisco International Airports in September. Clear has been chosen as the RT service provider by every airport that has conducted an open, competitive selection process. Clear's verification kiosk with shoe scanning technology, codeveloped with Verified Identity Pass's partner GE, will allow members, in most instances, to keep their shoes on as they pass through the Clear lanes at the security checkpoint. For more information, please visit: flyclear.com.