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Orlando airport tests security pass
The pass allows fliers to go through a separate checkpoint line. TIA officials have no plans to offer it any time soon.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published June 22, 2005
TAMPA - Passengers flying out of Orlando International Airport got their first chance Tuesday to begin applying for high-tech passes that allow them to speed through airport security checkpoints.
But Tampa International Airport says it has no plans to offer a similar program to passengers here anytime soon.
"They're initiating it and testing it in Orlando, where they'll run the tests and then make a determination" if the program should be expanded, said John Wheat, deputy director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. "At this point, we're not in line for a pilot program."
The Transportation Security Administration has been operating a similar test program at five U.S. airports and some in Europe. But the TSA's "Registered Traveler" program was capped at 10,000 participants, and passes used at one airport don't work at others.
The Orlando airport pass program is a privately run version of the one done by the TSA. It will be run by New York-based Verified ID.
Travelers will pay $80 a year for a "Clear" card that lets them use an exclusive security line that eliminates the chance of a random second search. Travelers approved for the new card must go through the Department of Homeland Security and submit to fingerprint and iris scans as part of their background screening.
The TSA monitors and lists security checkpoint wait times for each airport, based on flight departure times, on its Web site.
A passenger taking a 7 a.m. flight today from the Orlando airport, for example, can expect a security checkpoint wait time between three and 10 minutes. A traveler leaving TIA at the same time can expect to wait between four and 15 minutes, according to TSA estimates.
TIA spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said travelers complained about the checkpoints two years ago when they were fairly new but have since gotten used to the wait.
"We don't have the wait times like in Atlanta or Chicago or (Los Angeles)," she said. "But again, we have 17-million people a year. We don't have 90-million people a year."
Orlando International Airport serves more than 30-million passengers a year.
[Last modified June 22, 2005, 01:08:17]
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