"Some airports want to take security screening out of federal hands"

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Some airports want to take security screening out of federal hands 
By Toby Eckert
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE


WASHINGTON - Two years after the federal government took over all screening
of airline passengers and baggage after glaring security lapses, some
airports are considering a return to privately employed screeners. 

The Transportation Security Administration will start accepting applications
from airports Friday for what could be another major change in the way
aviation security is handled since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Some airport officials are unhappy with the federal system, saying it
doesn't allow enough work force flexibility and has resulted in long waits
at security checkpoints. 

No one is certain how many airports might seek approval to return to a
private work force under TSA supervision. 

"I'd say about four are very interested and are doing some very elaborate
negotiations with the TSA," said Stephen Van Beek, executive vice president
for policy at Airports Council International-North America, which represents
some of the nation's largest airports. 

An additional 20 to 30 airports have expressed interest in the program, he
added. 

The head of the House aviation subcommittee, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he
expects at least 100 airports to apply. 

San Diego's Lindbergh Field is not among those planning to seek a work force
change. 

"We're very satisfied with the current arrangement with the TSA and have not
identified any customer service or financial advantages to changing that,"
spokesman Steve Shultz said. 

Supporters of the private work force program say it will give airports more
operating authority without compromising security. The TSA must ensure that
screener performance remains equal to or better than it would be under a
federal work force. 

"The operational success of our highly centralized, all-federal screening
bureaucracy has been marginal by almost any effective and objective
evaluation," Mica said at a hearing on the issue. "Numerous airports have
been plagued with passenger screening delays. Screener vacancies exceed 20
percent in some of our busiest airports. Training and background checks have
lagged behind." 

Some Democrats argue that a return to a private work force goes too far.
They say federal security directors at individual airports should be given
more authority to make decisions about local staffing and other security
matters. 

"The flexibility that the TSA has extended to the private contractors in a
number of areas, which make a lot of sense, should be applied to the TSA,"
said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the aviation
subcommittee. "We should decentralize the system. The (federal security
directors) . . . should be given authority for training, for hiring and for
firing." 

Assessing a test program at five airports, Homeland Security Inspector
General Clark Kent Ervin said last spring that privately employed screeners
and federal screeners "performed about the same, which is to say, equally
poorly." 

A private consulting firm hired by the TSA to study the pilot program found
mixed results. But the BearingPoint study concluded that private contractors
have much more flexibility in personnel matters, such as hiring part-time
workers and splitting shifts so more screeners are on hand when airport
traffic is heaviest.


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