Enrollment began at SFO on August 14 with a mid-morning ceremony and press conference lead by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
"This pace breaks all of our records," said Allison Beer, Clear senior vice president for corporate development. "We knew there was a great deal of interest in the Bay Area, but this beats even our expectations.
Clear operates five enrollment stations in the Bay Area: two at San Francisco Airport, two at San Jose Airport and one at the Hyatt Embarcadero.
"Were delighted by the rapid growth of the program in the Bay Area, and were working round-the-clock to bring more kiosks onsite to companies to make enrollment more convenient," said Steven Brill, founder and CEO of Clear. "The Mayor, Airport Director John Martin and their staffs have been extremely enthusiastic about bringing Clear to San Francisco," Brill noted. "I guess their enthusiasm is contagious."
"The network effect weve always envisioned -- in which enrollment accelerates everywhere because the Clear card becomes so much more useful as more airports join the network -- is now happening," Beer concluded. "Enrollments at every single one of our locations were up last week following the San Francisco launch.¡±
Clear has now enrolled over 59,000 travelers nationwide. It provides members with a biometric identity card that allows them expedited access through airport security checkpoints for an annual fee of US$99.95, once they are pre-screened and approved by the Transportation Security Administration. Applicants start their membership at flyclear.com and complete the process in person at an enrollment center where their biometrics (fingerprints and iris images) are captured.
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. Every airport that has selected a provider in an open, competitive process has chosen Clear.
For more information, please send your e-mails to swm@infothe.com.
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