TSA lifts restrictions on using private airport screeners

Beginning Friday, airports across the country can request to have private contractors do passenger and baggage screening for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 2001.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress federalized airport screening operations and gave the Transportation Security Administration unprecedented responsibility to hire and train tens of thousands of security screeners. Congress, however, included a provision that would allow airports to submit applications to TSA starting Nov. 19 to have private security companies manage local screening operations.

Nobody knows how many airports will submit applications for private screening. Officials inside and outside government say airports have expressed widespread interest in learning more about the opt-out program, but only a trickle of information has emerged in recent weeks about the actual intentions of individual airports.

For example, the Massachusetts Port Authority is firmly committed to keeping its federal screening workforce, said spokesman Phil Orlandella. MassPort manages Boston's Logan International Airport, where the 9/11 terrorists slipped past security screening to hijack American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which were used to crash into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.

Across the country, however, Denver International Airport is undecided. "We're not leaning either way. We're looking at it," said spokesman Chuck Cannon. The airport still has several unanswered questions about the opt-out program, he said, such as how liability will be handled and what kind of flexibility the program offers.

"We're not going to make a decision any time soon," he added. "We want to gather all the information we need to gather."

No airport officials interviewed by Government Executive said they will definitely opt out.

Ready and Waiting

TSA is ready to review applications from airport operators, the agency's associate administrator, Tom Blank, said. TSA is not taking a position on whether airports should keep federal screeners or go private, saying opt-out availability is simply a law the agency has to follow.

Nobody is talking about returning to screening conditions that existed prior to 9/11, however, when airlines hired private screeners, usually with minimal background checks, and provided little training and low wages.

Under the law, TSA will conduct oversight to ensure that private screening companies meet federal standards, including providing pay and benefits to workers that is at least equal to those that federal screeners receive. Blank added, however, that TSA is confident that private companies can provide security, wages and customer service at a level equal to or greater than the federal workforce.

TSA is developing a list of qualified screening companies that will be selected to operate at airports choosing to opt out. In order to qualify, companies must show financial capability and meet federal requirements, including proof that they are owned by a U.S. citizen. TSA also will require a contract company to give hiring preference to federal screeners who are employed at an airport that opts out.

Blank said TSA will accept applications on a rolling basis, meaning there is no cutoff date by which airports must apply. TSA plans to begin reviewing applications between December and February, select private contractors in the spring, and begin the transition of the first airports to private companies starting in May.

Blank said he anticipates having one-on-one, unique negotiations with each airport to determine if they should be approved for the program. Some factors that will come into play, he said, include an airport's past performance, track record for security and rate of growth.

"Each application will be reviewed and judged based upon its own merits from a security, customer service and cost perspective," Blank said.

Up for Grabs

TSA manages a workforce of about 45,000 federal screeners at about 445 airports across the country, excluding five that were allowed to have contract screeners under a pilot program approved by Congress. Those airports are in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Kansas City, Mo., Rochester, N.Y., San Francisco, Calif., and Tupelo, Miss.

TSA said the five pilot airports will continue to use private screeners for at least another year until their contracts can be competitively bid under the opt-out program.

The nation's remaining 445 airports are up for grabs.

The American Federation of Government Employees has launched a national campaign to convince airport operators to keep federal workers. TSA does not recognize collective bargaining rights for screeners, but AFGE still advocates on their behalf. For example, AFGE Local 1 was established last year as a union for TSA screeners and currently has more than 1,000 members.

"We are actively petitioning airport authorities to not opt out in the interest of public safety," said Peter Winch, AFGE's national organizer. "We need federal screeners doing this important job. It's great for public confidence, and we ultimately believe it provides better security."

AFGE recently submitted a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to the Port of Seattle Commission in favor of keeping federal screeners at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. On Wednesday, a spokesman for the commission told Government Executive the airport will not opt out.

"There's no question, we are not going to opt out," the spokesman said. "The current arrangement is one that we find is best for the airport."

Winch said AFGE has similar efforts under way at airports in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Orlando, Tampa and Atlanta, and plans to launch more in the coming months.

AFGE has serious differences with TSA over screening issues, but believes the federal screening workforce should be kept. Winch said he fears that TSA will not be able to properly manage private contractors. He pointed to a September report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general that cited problems TSA had in managing screening contracts at the five pilot airports.

The report found TSA had not developed or implemented adequate performance standards or criteria to monitor, measure and evaluate the pilot programs.

"When local officials needed policy decisions or other program guidance from headquarters, there was no central point of authority; their requests had to be routed through numerous divisions within TSA headquarters to be researched, discussed, and finally approved," the report stated. "Consequently, the four pilot program contractors interpreted program guidelines differently or received different guidance from TSA on similar issues, leading to inconsistencies in operations among the pilot program contractors and making comparisons among them difficult."

A TSA spokesman dismissed the criticism on Wednesday. "As TSA transitions from a start-up agency, we continue to refine our programs and practices including contract management and oversight," he said. "We're definitely confident that we can carry out our mission, which includes implementing the [opt-out] program."

Up in the Air

Many airports are still seeking additional information about the possibility of opting out, said Stephen Van Beek, senior vice president for policy and development at Airports Council International-North America, which represents local, regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada.

"The guidance heretofore has been pretty vague," he said. "What that's effectively meant is that the program has been turned into an airport-by-airport program."

Van Beek said up to 30 airports have contacted him personally for information. He said he knows of four out of the top 20 busiest airports in the country that are definitely interested in opting out, but he declined to give their names.

Among outstanding issues are liability and funding matters, and what kind of specific benefits airports will gain locally by opting out, Van Beek said. He advises airports to evaluate what their experience has been with TSA and what advantages or disadvantages they see at the pilot airports.

He added that some airports might be hinting at opting out simply as a strategic way to get better service from TSA.

"I don't think anybody has a real good handle on what the program is going to look like," he said. "But the thing we believe is…a little competition is a good thing."