The nation’s first major test of a registered-traveler program got off to a bumpy start this week at Orlando International Airport.
Computer problems slowed the process, and many applicants showed up at the airport without the required two forms of government identification.
“We’re going through some initial glitches,” said Steven Brill, chief executive officer of Verified Identity Pass Inc., the private company running the fast-pass screening system for the airport and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Registration began Tuesday.
Some Orlando-area businesses say they are eager to have their frequent fliers enroll to reduce the time they have to wait in security lines. But they are leery of spending money for an untested system operating from only one airport, especially if employees have to spend hours at Orlando International as part of the two-step sign-up process.
“I just have a lot of questions at this point,” said Henry Apfel, travel manager for Kirchman Corp. in Altamonte Springs. Apfel said the banking-software company would like to enroll hundreds of its employees, but the sign-up process appears cumbersome.
“I don’t want to send senior managers down to the airport to spend hours in line” for processing, Apfel said Wednesday.
Verified Identity promises to have a mobile enrollment system that can go directly to companies for group registration, but it won’t be available for weeks.
The company’s computer server crashed and was down for several hours Tuesday afternoon, Brill said, but service was restored after a software patch was installed by the company’s high-tech partner, Lockheed Martin Corp.
Some disgruntled applicants said they spent more than three hours at the airport and never got the process completed.
At least 300 people were processed on the first day, Brill said, including having their fingerprints and eyes scanned. About 1,000 people registered online, he said, mostly from home or office computers.
Despite the problems, Brill said he was happy with the amount of work the company was able to accomplish. “You always have problems with a launch,” he said.
One thing the start-up company learned Tuesday, he said, is that it’s far better for people to do the initial enrollment online from the comfort of their home or business. The application is at flyclear.com.
“We didn’t realize we would have this many people show up” at the airport on the first day, Brill said. Lines were 20 or 30 deep at times.
Jim Whaples, special-projects director for Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn, a large Lake Buena Vista hotel, showed up to register on the first day but did not have the required identification. He made a trip home to grab his passport, to go along with his drivers license.
“If this speeds up my travel, then it’s worth it,” Whaples said of the $79.95 annual fee.
Applicants must have at least one form of government-issued photo ID, such as a passport or drivers license, as well as a second ID such as a voter-registration card, Social Security card, birth certificate or certificate of citizenship or naturalization.
A trip to the airport is required in the second step of the application process. Each of the program’s four sign-up kiosks includes a machine that scans an applicant’s iris and fingerprints for storage on a computer chip for the fast-pass security card.
Three of the four kiosks are in areas of the terminal where people board planes, which means those kiosks are inaccessible to travelers who are not flying that day. Only ticketed passengers are allowed in the airside sections.
Brill said another sign-up terminal for the airport’s main concourse will be installed as soon as possible.
People who pass a standard background check and pay the annual fee get the security card in the mail. The system is scheduled to be fully operational in mid-July.
Travelers who carry the biometric card still must go through airport metal detectors and have their bags inspected, but they get to bypass the regular security lines, shaving minutes off their time at the checkpoint.
