"Editorial: Let airports take over screening"

Monday, October 17, 2005

Editorial
Let airports take over 
By Robert Poole 
USA Today


Baggage and passenger screening should be shifted to individual airports,
with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) retaining regulatory
control. Airports would be free to use TSA-certified screening companies or
to hire TSA-trained screeners. This devolution - having the federal
government delegate these duties - makes sense for at least four reasons. 

   . Today, the TSA is both the regulator and the provider of some airport
security functions. A regulator cannot fairly regulate itself; it must be at
arm's length from those it regulates. In Europe, which has decades more
experience dealing with terrorism, the responsibility for all airport
security is placed at the airport level, with government oversight.

   . Second, TSA's screening operations are highly centralized in
Washington. Allocation of screeners to individual airports takes place only
once a year. But airlines continually change routes and service levels. From
month to month, the number of passengers who need screening may fluctuate by
15%, 20% or more. Much of the time, TSA provides either too few or too many
screeners, wasting taxpayer money and travelers' time.

   . Third, making airports responsible for screening - as they already are
for access control, perimeter security and other functions - would lead to a
more integrated security system. Staff could be cross-trained and shifted
among functions, reducing boredom and enhancing skills.

   . Fourth, if airports got the money TSA now spends on screening, they
could easily finance the transition to better technology, such as faster,
more efficient in-line explosive detection systems to screen checked
baggage. Airports could get the large, high-tech scanners out of ticket
lobbies and make them part of the conveyor systems that carry baggage to
airplanes. That would reduce the number of required baggage screeners by
one-half or more, according to Government Accountability Office studies. The
freed-up funds could beef up other aspects of security.

Congress overreacted in creating a costly, inflexible, centralized system
for airport screening. The crucial need is for high standards, rigorously
enforced. Those did not exist prior to 9/11- but now that we have them, we
should let each airport secure its premises, with TSA holding it
accountable.

Robert Poole is director of Transportation Studies at the Reason Foundation.


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