At 6 a.m. on Tuesday at Newark International Airport, dozens of business travelers are cutting the 15-minute-long TSA line using Clear. High-tech cameras scan their faces and crunch their biometrics—jawbone contour, eye-socket depth, lip curvature—to verify their identity. Within seconds they’re through security—well, the ID-checking bit, at least—and dumping briefcases and carry-ons in bins to be scanned for bombs and forbidden liquids.⁣ ⁣ For $209 a year—chump change for many frequent fliers—Clear makes navigating the airport slightly faster and a little less unpleasant. Those relegated to less-speedy lines might grouse, but Clear’s 8.2 million members love it. The 16-year-old company, which struggled to make money in its earliest days, is now a profitable terminal mainstay, raking in $900 million in revenue and $168 million in net income in 2025.⁣ ⁣ “I think people continually underestimate how hard traveling is and how much people want help in travel,” says Clear CEO Caryn Seidman ...