Denver International Airport expects to get at least $3.3 million over the next five years from a program that offers travelers speedier access to security checkpoints if they pay about $100 a year to become a “registered traveler.”
In a briefing to Denver City Council members Wednesday, airport officials detailed a plan aimed at shortening checkpoint wait times for all travelers.
It is called “total queue management” and involves hiring an outside contractor that will monitor wait times at DIA’s three checkpoints, steer passengers to the shortest lines and assist travelers in removing goods from carry-on luggage that might slow the screening process.
At the core of the plan is the registered-traveler program, in which enrolled passengers pay $99.95 annually for access to a dedicated line at each checkpoint that should quickly get them to the point where they present identification to security screeners.
Participants will spend no more than three or four minutes in line before they reach screeners, said Kristine Sumner, senior manager for Verified Identity Pass Inc., the subcontractor that will run the program at DIA beginning next month.
To enroll in the program, travelers must submit to fingerprinting and an iris scan, and pass a background check by the federal Transportation Security Administration.
The TSA will get $28 of the fee to cover its costs of doing the background checks, said agency spokeswoman Carrie Harmon.
DIA will get 12 percent of the net revenue balance from enrollments and renewals, with the five-year minimum guarantee of $3.3 million, said Patrick Heck, the airport’s deputy manager for revenue and business development.
Sumner’s company estimates that 50,000 people in the Denver area will enroll in the first year.
When the program starts next month, there will be at least four lines feeding each security checkpoint at DIA — the registered-traveler line, a line for certain elite passengers, a line for airport and airline employees and the disabled, and the line for all other passengers.
Officials acknowledged that the registered-traveler line initially may mirror the quick access offered by the elite-traveler line.
DIA security chief Lori Beckman said companies offering the registered-traveler plan are working on technologies that might allow pre-approved passengers to avoid taking shoes off or removing laptop computers from bags.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
