Airport security-screening service Clear is piloting the use of biometric gates, with the first so-called eGate opening Tuesday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Photo Credit: Clear
Over the next month, Clear will follow with eGate installations at Seattle-Tacoma and Washington Reagan National. Clear's end-of-year goal is 30 airports.
The gates will streamline the screening process for Clear members, enabling them to bypass the facial-identity machines they currently use and proceed directly to expedited TSA screening. Clear is conducting the pilot in partnership with the TSA.
Clear is under competitive pressure to expedite its security screening with the TSA expanding its PreCheck Touchless ID program, which is now in place at 14 airports, in partnership with American, Delta, United and Alaska airlines.
Since last November, Clear has replaced its older identity-verification pods, which relied on iris and fingerprint checks, with facial-recognition machines, which are now in all 59 Clear airports. Clear claims it has sped up processing by a factor of five.