If you dread the security line at Indianapolis International Airport, some relief is officially on the way. Clear, a paid biometric identity service, is set to roll out dedicated lanes at both the A and B checkpoints, with a target start date of July 1, 2026. The Indianapolis Airport Authority signed off on the deal in late March, and the new lanes will sit alongside, not instead of, standard TSA screening.
According to IndyStar, the airport authority board voted unanimously on March 20 to approve the agreement. Clear projects the program will create about 33 local jobs and generate roughly $700,000 for the airport in the first year. The outlet reports the company will operate at both concourse checkpoints and expects to begin enrollment and service this summer. Airport officials told the paper the goal is to move pre-vetted travelers more quickly while TSA keeps final say over all security checks.
How Clear Works
CLEAR verifies a traveler’s identity using biometrics, primarily a face scan, so members can skip the ID check podium and head straight to the physical screening area. In a company press release, CLEAR says its eGates can complete that verification step in about five seconds, which the firm argues should boost checkpoint throughput while TSA continues handling security vetting. The company already runs lanes and other access points at airports and sports and entertainment venues around the country and will add IND to that network this summer.
Cost and the TSA Alternative
CLEAR+ membership typically runs about $209 per year for an individual, with family add-ons around $125 per additional adult, according to consumer guides that track the service. By comparison, the Transportation Security Administration charges about $78 for a five-year TSA PreCheck membership, per a TSA announcement. The two programs cover different parts of the screening process and can sometimes be combined, so travelers will need to decide which option, if any, fits how often and how they fly.
What to Expect at the Checkpoint
“It critically allows TSA to help allocate their resources to focus on the rest of the passenger population,” Clear representative Kyle McLaughlin told IndyStar. McLaughlin also told the paper that about 42,000 people in Indiana already have active CLEAR memberships and that the company signed up roughly 20,000 people in a single day during a mid-March partial government shutdown. Airport staff say the lanes are designed to speed up the process for enrolled travelers without changing the federal rules that govern what happens during physical screening.
Privacy and Oversight
CLEAR’s public filings say members are “in control of their own information” and state the company does not sell member data, while pointing to federal certifications for parts of its information-security program. Even so, biometric identification makes some travelers wary, and those concerns are not going away just because the line moves faster. Would-be members are urged to review CLEAR’s privacy policy and the airport’s enrollment materials before signing up. The TSA remains the ultimate authority over what screening occurs after identity is verified…