Tampa International Airport, Des Moines International Airport and Charleston International Airport all plan to transition to a new voluntary public-private screening initiative, called Gold+, reports The New York Times.
A Transportation Security Administration’s agency spokesperson confirmed on July 22 that the three airports have become the first to opt in to the new private screening model, angering the union that represents thousands of TSA workers.
The Gold+ option has been billed by the agency as an update to an existing program by which 20 U.S. airports, including San Francisco International, already use private security screeners rather than federal workers. The TSA first announced the new program in a mass email to staff members in May.
Recent government shutdowns left unpaid T.S.A. agents reluctant to come to work, leading to long lines. Officials at Tampa and Des Moines airport said they hoped using the program would reduce the risk of disruptions while allowing airports to access new screening checkpoint technology that they say would otherwise take years to obtain through the traditional federal process.
But the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement on July 22 that expanded privatization of aviation security could jeopardize public safety, and that the trend represented a “major departure” from the system created by Congress after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
“Changes of this magnitude should not be made behind closed doors without the input of Congress, the flying public, the local airport authorities, and T.S.A. employees themselves,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the union that represents 47,000 TSA agents across the country.
The Times reports that, under Gold+, private contractors would be in control of security screening functions and the screening technology itself, according to the union. However, the TSA would continue to have regulatory oversight.
