Anchorage airport would let CLEAR sell a faster security line

Travelers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport could soon pay a private company to move to the front of the security line.

The state is proposing a concession agreement with Alclear, LLC, which operates as CLEAR, for 1,044 square feet in the South Terminal — an enrollment area before security and verification lanes at the checkpoint. Members pay an annual fee, have their identity verified by CLEAR staff and are escorted to the front of the screening queue. They still go through TSA screening.

The term is three years with two one-year renewal options. Rent on the administrative room runs about $20,000 a year, plus concession fees on the rest of the space. The notice does not say what those fees are.

CLEAR operates in about 60 airports, according to a federal securities filing. More than 5 million passengers fly through Anchorage's airport annually.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center says CLEAR's model "creates a two-tiered system of security screening in which those who can afford to pay receive preferential treatment." CLEAR does not appear in the record.

Anyone who objects, or any competitor seeking the same space, has until 4 pm Sept. 13 to file in writing with the airport leasing office. That is a Sunday. The office keeps weekday hours, and the notice itself runs through Sept. 16.