CLEAR expedited-screening lanes proposed at Anchorage airport, comments due Sept. 13

Travelers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport's South Terminal could pay a private company to move faster through security under a proposed concession agreement with Alclear, LLC, doing business as CLEAR. Anyone who objects, or any competitor who wants the same space, has until 4 p.m. Sept. 13.

The deal covers 1,044 square feet, including a pre-security enrollment area and verification lanes, for a three-year term with two one-year renewal options. Rent on the administrative room is about $20,000 a year, plus concession fees on the rest. The notice does not state them.

CLEAR operates in about 60 airports, per 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."

Comments or competing applications go in writing to the airport leasing office, attention Christel Burgess, P.O. Box 196960, Anchorage 99519-6960. The notice runs Aug. 17 through Sept. 16, but the deadline is Sept. 13, a Sunday, and the office keeps weekday hours. The department will then decide whether to proceed.