BWI To Enable Some To Bypass Security Altogether

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Imagine a faster way to zip through airport security lines. One company has a new piece of technology that allows passengers to bypass security gates altogether.

As Gigi Barnett explains, Baltimore is one of the first in the nation to get it.

Headed to BWI-Thurgood Marshall Airport? You can't get on a plane without going through security.

"Please don't let the line be long so that I'm late for my plane," said airline passenger Nancy Troese.

But soon passengers will be able to turn to a Clear Kiosk. It's designed by a New York-based company with the same name. One scan of the fingerprint or eye verifies that a passenger is TSA-approved and safe to travel.

"I'd love it," said airline passenger Dennis Parnell.

That's because Parnell hates the airport wait.

"Just the ease through security because I'm not a security risk. I want to go through and get to the plane," he said.

Clear's security check takes a matter of minutes.

"It will absolutely improve the experience of our members as they travel through the airport. We actually can get them through the security line in about five minutes," said BWI Clear General Manager Joe Wehner.

But it will cost: about $15 a month per passenger. So far, it's been used more than two million times by travelers around the nation.

Troese says it's the convenience she craves.

"I'm in," she said. "I'll do it."

BWI is the first airport in this region to get the Clear Kiosk and the 11th nationwide.

The Clear Kiosk is already at airports in Las Vegas, Denver, Miami and Dallas.