More airports consider replacing TSA with private contractors

by private companies under federal oversight.

Five airports immediately signed up in 2002 — San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester International, Jackson Hole, and Tupelo Regional — and eleven others, including Sioux Falls Regional Airport in South Dakota, Florida’s Key West International Airport, and seven airports in Montana, have joined since then.

Airport officials say most travelers do not know whether the screeners performing pat-down checks work for the TSA or a private company. So far, no airport that joined SPP has opted back into the federal screening program.

“We love our arrangement,” said Ray Bishop, director of Jackson Hole Airport. “It delivers better customer service and security.”

Unlike government workers, problem employees working for contract screening companies “can be removed immediately,” noted Mark VanLoh, director of aviation at Kansas City Aviation Department. The private screening company is easier to reach, he added. “Because I am a client, I usually get a return call immediately. We are all in the customer service business, so that’s a nice thing to have.”

Focusing on security

The bottom line, said McCarron of San Francisco International, is that “we feel our passengers are as safe as at any other airport. And by allowing [the private screening company] to handle the personnel management of the screening process, the TSA staff at SFO can focus its attention on security issues.”

“It’s up to the individual airports to determine whether or not participation is in their best interest,” said Christopher Bidwell, vice president of security and facilitation for the Airports Council International-North America, a group that represents governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports.

Two reports — completed in 2004 and 2006 — show “there were some efficiencies under the private model,” Bidwell said, but “it would be helpful to have another study to shed new light.”

The board of Minneapolis-St. Paul International discussed privatizing security to help meet its goal of keeping security wait times to 15 minutes or less, said Patrick Hogan, director of public affairs. “A private firm would still have to follow all TSA regulations and procedures, so it’s really just a matter of whether they could do the job more efficiently, streamlining the process. At this point, we don’t have a clear sense of whether that would be the case,” he said.

“The screening partnership program may be a step in the right direction, but ultimately, it doesn’t change the fact that people at the top are idiots. The real problem is that TSA needs to be totally rebuilt,” said aviation consultant Michael Boyd, of Colorado-based Boyd Group International.

“Contracting with private screening companies offers staffing flexibility and a few other advantages,” said Robert Poole, director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation, a free market think tank, “but the system is still very centralized and run too much by TSA.”

“Regardless of who’s performing security, they’re working with a government process that is generally outdated and less efficient,” said Steve Lott of International Air Transport Association (IATA), a group that represents the airline industry. IATA recently unveiled a proposal for a redesigned “security checkpoint of the future” that uses biometric data to speed travelers through the airport experience. “We need to think a little more long term here,” Lott said.

Msnbc notes that last month, in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said current security measures are “objectively safer” for airline passengers and will continue to be part of the airport experience for “the foreseeable future.”

Representative John Mica, meanwhile, will likely continue pressing for TSA reform while continuing to urge airports to opt out of the federal screening program.

A chance to reflect

Real change, noted the Reason Foundation’s Poole, could come from the Congress.”[2011] is the 10th anniversary of both the 9/11 attacks and the TSA. There’s a good chance we’ll have TSA reauthorization that will provide the opportunity to take a look at how TSA is working.”

Dale of Orlando Sanford Airport, meanwhile, expects to have private screeners on duty in less than a year. “I’ve talked with John Mica, who is the congressman for our district, and we expect things to move along in an orderly fashion.”

That timeframe may prove to be unrealistic. Cindi Martin, airport director at Glacier Park International in Montana, said her airport sent an SPP application in October of 2009. They, along with three other Montana airports, are still waiting for action.

The delay is creating a new set of problems. Knowing that a private contractor will eventually take over, “[Transportation Security Officers] are retaliating against authority and the airport management staff,” Martin said, “and we’re getting no help from TSA management.”