TSA to begin thorough background checks of 1.2 million aviation workers
TSA takes over from the FAA the task of background checks of 1.2 million U.S. aviation workers; this will be a “perpetual vetting,” as licensed aviation workers will be rechecked every time the Terrorist Screening Center’s database is updated, which happens almost daily
More than a million aviation workers, including pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants, will begin undergoing more thorough background checks in January as the United States focuses on preventing insider terrorist attacks. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will take over the task of checking backgrounds of 1.2 million aviation workers, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said (to date, this was the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA]). The agency will also check anyone applying for a job requiring a federal aviation license. USA Today’s Thomas Frank writes that the increased scrutiny comes as DHS cracks down on the possibility of attacks by workers who do not have to go through security checkpoints to get on a plane or enter sensitive areas. Last month, a former Comair airline worker was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for sneaking guns and marijuana onto a Delta Air Lines plane in Orlando’s airport in March.
The TSA takeover of background checks means every licensed aviation worker will be checked against the government’s complete terror watch list, which the FBI runs, instead of a partial list the FAA has used, Howe said. The FAA licenses twenty-one types of workers including flight instructors, air-traffic controllers, dispatchers, and flight engineers. Background checks are done automatically by a computer that compares biographical information about aviation workers to the terrorist watch list. Many airport workers, such as baggage handlers and store clerks, are not licensed but already face TSA background checks. In addition, licensed aviation workers will be rechecked every time the Terrorist Screening Center’s database is updated, which happens almost daily, Howe said. The FAA checks people only when they apply for an aviation-worker license and does not have the resources to do “perpetual vetting,” Howe said. “This will raise the baseline of security,” Howe said, adding that the TSA’s computerized vetting system can easily handle the additional checks. The TSA airport employee screening program is similar to the TWIC program which was launched last month to conduct background checks for more than one million port workers.
