Fast-lane airport security program shuts down

Clear, which began about four years ago, had enrolled more than 250,000 travelers, each paying nearly $200 a year, and operated at 18 airports, including Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles. At Logan International Airport in Boston, the program was offered only through Delta Air Lines in Terminal A.

Users of the Clear system got high-tech ID cards to verify their fingerprints or iris patterns at designated security kiosks. Clear faced criticism because the Transportation Security Administration decided registered travelers had to go through the same security screening as everyone else, though their lines were shorter.

“Clear was not here at the invitation of Massport,’’ Matthew Brelis, a Massachusetts Port Authority spokesman, said yesterday. Airport officials have questioned the need for the service because wait times at Logan, they said, were not excessive.

A Clear spokeswoman said in September that Massport’s long approval process held up the program, and that Delta had agreed to sponsor the service at its terminal. Delta said in June 2008 that it would be the first major US carrier to participate, starting in New York and Los Angeles.

Representatives for Delta were not available for comment yesterday.

A statement on the website of Verified Identity Pass, which ran the Clear program, said the firm “had been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.’’ It shut down Monday night.

The note also said that the company would keep member information secure until it was able to delete the data, and that “at the present time, because of its financial condition, Verified Identity Pass Inc. cannot issue refunds.’’

Clear was founded by Court TV founder Steven Brill, who told USA Today that he left the company in March.

The Air Transport Association, a trade group, isn’t sorry to see Clear go. “We never did see a need for the registered traveler program,’’ said spokesman David Castelveter.

He said airport security isn’t nearly the nightmare it used to be. “When registered traveler programs were first introduced, the check-in process was a fairly cumbersome and horrific process,’’ he said. “There have been a lot of improvements over time that have made it so much more bearable.’’

Katie Johnston Chase contributed to this report. Paul Makishima can be reached at makishima@globe.com.