A program that speeds pre-screened travelers through security will begin June 20, launching what airports hope will be a new era of checkpoint screening.

Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley announced the start date yesterday at a congressional hearing. The Registered Traveler program will allow people who passed a background check to go through checkpoints quicker. Participants must pay a fee, go through a records check for criminal warrants, and provide a fingerprint and eye scan. They'll be checked against databases of known terrorists.

Airports will decide how much they'll charge. At Orlando International Airport's test program in Florida, Registered Travelers pay $80 a year.

Once in the program, travelers are entitled to use potentially much shorter lines at participating airports. More than 50 airports are interested in using Registered Traveler.

The program isn't welcomed by all. The American Civil Liberties Union maintains that the program is forcing participation because travelers will face "exponentially longer" lines if they aren't Registered Travelers, said ACLU lawyer Tim Sparapani. He said the ACLU also objects to travelers surrendering "their most private and personal information" to a government database.

Privacy advocate Marc Rotenberg fears that people will have no recourse if they fail a background check and may be blacklisted elsewhere. "Lots of employers would be very interested to know someone they're thinking of hiring didn't clear this screening," he said.

Charles Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives, said he expects the program to take off nevertheless. "I don't know that there are airports out there that won't want to do this," he said.

Registered Travelers will need to give their home phone number and recent addresses. The digital images of their fingerprints and irises will be stored in their Registered Traveler card to verify their identity.

The TSA is requiring that each airport use identical technology so Registered Travelers can enter the reserved lines wherever they're available.

Registered Travelers will have to clear metal detectors and run their carryon bags through X-rays. They'll avoid further searches unless they set off a checkpoint alarm or are chosen at random.

Enrollees will pay for the background check and biometric card. The TSA has estimated that background checks would cost $30 to $50.