Clear ceases operations

rpadula

rpadula

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Hmmm, Clear had been pounding the radio airwaves heavily here in Atlanta extolling the virtues of their service. Now I know why they were desperate to get customers:

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/06/fast-track-airport-lane-files-for.html
Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available.
At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.
​
 
TSA strikes again.

Clear's business model was doomed because of the TSA. TSA fought Clear tooth and nail, and only allowed it to happen when Congress forced them to. Then TSA put up every roadblock they could to the success of Clear. For example, TSA required passengers to show a TSA person a photo ID even after the passenger had passed the biometric check of Clear. That changed after Clear put pictures on the Clear cards and then fought with TSA for months to allow that picture to be used. Even yesterday Clear had to have a separate person check the picture on the Clear card (and sign the boarding pass) before sending people to the biometric check. In other words, more of a hassle than the standard TSA line.

At DCA last month TSA made a policy change that Clear passengers were sent to the end of the line for the x-ray (after the doc checker), meaning that there was virtually no time savings.

Had the program operated as originally intended (people who went through a background check were more considered more trustworthy, and therefore would be screened like crew, not like suspicious citizens), Clear would likely have been much more successful. It's not that they didn't try, it's that the TSA blocked them at every turn.

The economy finally did them in.
 
AdamZ said:
Bill sounds like its not the economy but the TSA
Click to expand...

The economy meant that there were fewer folks willing to pony up to essentially cut the lines.... especially since the lines are shorter.

But yes, the TSA destroyed any benefits that Clear could offer.
 
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