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Subscribe to RSSThe Transportation Security Administration has revised the application process for a program that allows airports to opt out of the federal screening program and instead apply to have private companies in charge of the security checkpoint.
But a stipulation in the new application guidelines announced earlier this month is raising some concern.
As part of the Screening Partnership Program, private companies under federal oversight currently staff the checkpoints at San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester International and 13 other airports around the country.
But in January of this year, TSA administrator John Pistole put the program on hold, effectively denying the applications of six airports seeking to join, stating that the agency had not seen “clear or substantial advantage" to expanding the program.
Since then, "TSA has developed a new ... application process that provides an opportunity for airport directors and managers to discuss what they see as the potential advantages that private screening would provide at their airports," the agency said in a statement.
But wording in the revised application specifically asks airports to explain how private screening would provide “a clear and substantial advantage to TSA's security operations.”
What TSA views as an "opportunity" is being viewed as a potential hurdle by others.
“That stipulation is not contained in the legislation mandating the creation of the program,” said Christopher Bidwell, vice president, Security and Facilitation for Airports Council International — North America (ACI-NA), which represents the nation’s airports. “And TSA has yet to publish the new standards that identify the criteria.”
For its part, TSA maintains that while the mandating legislation allows airports to request participation in the Screening Partnership Program, it’s ultimately up to the TSA to decide how to implement that program. And, “As Mr. Pistole announced, he will not expand the program unless there is a clear advantage to do so,” said TSA spokesperson Carrie Harmon.
Six airports have been invited to re-apply for the program, including: Glacier Park International Airport, Missoula International Airport, Yellowstone Airport and Bert Mooney Airport in Montana; Springfield-Branson Airport in Missouri; and Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida.
Additional airports may apply for the program as well.
“I don’t know how to make a business case for the TSA when we don’t have access to information the TSA would have when making a contract with a successful bidders,” said Cindi Martin, director of Glacier International Airport. “It’s an impossibility.”
Rather than start over, Martin is asking TSA to allow her airport to amend the application previously filed. Other airports are doing the same. And ACI-NA is pressing TSA to publish the standards so that airports will have a better idea of “what items to include in order to help ensure the success of their application,” said Bidwell.
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Leave a Comment:
Get rid of the TSA, body groping, touchy feely perverts!
This is your federal government at work invading your privacy and imposing their will!
How many 95 year-old terrorists have they encountered hiding weapons in their diapers?
They ought to be ashamed of themselvs!
And you'd feel safer with a rent-a-cop doing the groping?
Ok, so as long as screeners aren't receiving a direct federal paycheck, the same screening will be fine?
How many terrorists have been caught by the TSA?
It's a lot easier to fire a rude or incompetent employee working in the private sector than it is to fire someone working for the government. Out of nearly two million employees working for the federal government only a few hundred are fired every year for poor performance.
The point of the TSA is NOT to catch terrorists, but to ensure that threats to aviation and passengers are screened and removed before flights [including persons on watch/no-fly lists]
To AP-141... What does it matter that the TSA officers receive a 'direct' federal paycheck? Explain your logic. Do you think that the removal of the TSA at airport security checkpoints will somehow diminish the tax burden of American citizens or the fees charged to airline passengers?
Most Americans have no idea what the TSA does other than what they see at security checkpoints in airports. Ignorance and opinions have no place in ensuring public safety.
Govt. worker,
We got by just fine without the TSA, we'll get along fine without them - regardless of what their job is supposed to be.
CarterGlass, is absolutely right, I am a retired 37 year government manager from the FAA. Get rid of the TSA and put contractors in there subject to government oversight. I have seen this work in low activity Air Traffic control towers and the results are superior to the government workers. They know they can be fired and they do a better job with less arrogance and belly aching.
You guys really want to risk national security on the count that "private employees are easier to fire?"
You guys must be off your rockers...
The groping and the scanning need to stop all together.ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!Those backscatters are nothing more than money makers.
It just came out 9hrs. ago how Epic.org got documents from the TSA concerning the radiation levels pertaining to these junk machines.
Don't believe me go to Epic.org.All the info is right there.
The problem with TSA is we're no safer but a whole lot less free. Get rid of them. TSA: Thousands Standing Around. Good democrat union jobs though!
I honestly believe the jobs for the present TSA characters were part of a government plan to put people back to work.
With what these Tin Horned Gestapo do, it has got to be one of the Filthiest low life jobs on the planet.
Norm, you do realize that the program was set up and instituted by Pres Bush and the past admin?
When did the TSA employees become federal or state employees? Thought they were employed by private for profit companies who bid on the contract to do this work...... hmmm
BZ: Under which administration hired them is of no concern to me, the issue is safety and freedom. We're less free and no more safe. I'd prefer private companies for several reasons. First, there is a profit motive to provide excellent service (America is a capitalist country last I checked). Second, privitization would also contribute to higher standards and more accountability. Third, we want people paying taxes into the government, not expensive employees paid with taxes from the citizenry.
Unless I am mistaken, and it is possible, TSA people are federal employees. Is this correct?
Norm, do you mean the same private companies that were employing felons etc if I am not mistaken to do some of these jobs? Hmmmm
Is there any wonder that so much luggage was/is lost and items from same stolen..... hmmmm
Privatization does not guarantee a higher standard of work or accountability.
The polititians in congress are also civil servants..... and they even have the ability to award themselves higher salaries, paid for by the citizenry who have no imput into what they are charging - including benefits and pensions - for their services to work 2 weeks per month.
If all the TSA workers are now federal employees.... so what...... at least they will have been thoroughly security checked by the FBI etc. LOL These civil servants if they are indeed civil servants... are also paying federal and state taxes too.... So?
it's obvious that the government just can't stand it when the taxpayers have the chance to have them out of their lives. again, government employes are an unnecessary evil. let's fire 'em all and start over.
Wonderful... a scorched earth tactic when dealing with something you don't like. So when your kid gets out of hand do you take him/her out behind the wood shed and "start over"?
If you want to live in a place where you don't have to worry about Government Employees, you can move to either Somalia, where there is really no Government, or to Pitcairn Island, where the only 'government employees' are cops on loan from the rest of the UK.
It's a
gropestep in the right direction getting rid of TSA!You do realize that instead of a paid government employee groping you, all this means is you'll get some flunkie rent-a-cop doing it instead. Airports can only opt out if they have a private firm doing the pat-downs.
The TSA is the closest thing to the Russian KGB in the United States. If you want to travel anywhere on a public transit system, you have to show papers, photo ID, and make sure you don't have anything to drink or for god's sake cut your finger nails.
I think the TSA brought this on itself. Where is the common sense? what is wrong with the TSA? did they actually think that a sick 95 year old woman in a wheel chair is a terrorist?I found a site where people can complain about things like this airlineslodgingetc com and other travel related issues
Get rid of these GESTAPO TIN HORNED GROPERS.At least private screeners will maybe, notice I said maybe give people a little more respect and NOT treat them like criminals and garbage.
I'm really past my saturation point with Homeland security and their little troll government slaves the TSA.
I'm going to slam these Bastards every chance I get.I'll really enjoy doing it.Give them a taste of what it's like to be treated like Sh it.I HAVE HAD IT!
Private Screeners will not. Just go to SFO, they are private. And when you do, realize the premium you pay with your tax dollars for the extra layer of management.
We need to find who the authors of the proceedures are. Who makes these rules. Who decided 3.5 oz of toothpaste was a threat. Who decided that the 95 year old in a wheel chair requires screening. Who are these people in TSA that make these rules. The ones we never ever get to see, never ever get to talk to, never ever take the blame for their decisions.
I think the TSA screener knows better than anyone, what it feels like to be treated like Sh it.
Then how about going after the idiots who come up with these waste of time stupid rules, that includes the molesting pat downs and scanners.Both of which in reality are USELESS.Then maybe these screeners won't be treated like sh it.You cannot in all reality expect people to respect the ones who obliterate your constitutional rights due to paranoia and most of all stupidity.Because the bottom line is that all this is.
Until that time comes, if you don't want to be treated like sh it,find other employment.Because as it stand now that Job is the filthiest dirtiest job on the planet, and I would not be proud doing it.
That's the way it is.
Remember, even if your airport :opts out" the "security rules and process is still set by TSA..The ONLY solution is to destroy the TSA, defund it, disband it (and arrest and try some of the criminals) and start over with a rational approach to airport security.
Clipper Miami I couldn't agree with you more.The first ones to be arrested and tried as criminals are Pistol. and that whacko Napalapuuuuuuuuutano!Then clean up the rest of the MESS.
What we should do is demand that airlines offer 'TSA screened' and 'non-TSA screened' flights from the same destination. This way - all of us who don't believe that there are any terrorists out there can fly on one plane, and those of us who believe that 'suicide bombers who would blow up a plane in a heartbeat really exist' can also be safe.
Yeah - let all those 'pollyanna' types fly with those who believe that government is bad. We will see who actually makes it to their destination safely...
Good idea, but the only problem is that some people believe terrorists want to take over planes and fly them into things. To alleviate this fear passengers on the non-TSA planes should be allowed to carry arms.
there is a simple solution to this airplane one takes groped and airplane two takes the rest sane sensible people and watch and see which plane can still afford to fly and have the most full seats
So basically you can opt out of antiterrorism screenings as long as you hire Blackwater to grope grannies and little children instead of the government.
Way to go, Tea Party. You sure know how to pick the winners...
Great, nasty old diaper with a couple wads of C4 and a short fuse.
I wonder how many of you will be screaming "where was the government?" when security is breached and a plane is brought down. The government may not be doing it's job the way everyone in the country wants them to but I'll be damned if I'd fly out of an airport without some kind of security checks. Disband, defund the TSA? Best to be careful what you wish for and better hope none of your family becomes collateral damage when a 2nd rate contractor with the lowest bid is securing your flights.
Disband, and defund the TSA is the only way to get to the source of these problems. Although, you have a good point, and the 10th anniversary of 911 is approaching in the year Osama was killed. Makes you wonder if there's some information we are not privy too.
And how many bombs has the TSA actually stopped? Not this bull about "we scared away ten million terrorists" - how many bombs can they actually produce that they intercepted? How many terrorist guns (yes, I know they got a few NBA players and Hollywood stars who were snowed out or thought they were above the law)? Just show me hard facts of what they have done. And by the way, the original 9/11 terrorists - their knives were stashed on the planes by assistants in the service crew - they were already being screened at the check-ins. So how secure are we on that front - just had a service person busted with a false ID.
TSA - always prepared for last year's terrorist tactics.
While I hate TSA's policies and practices, I don't see this as an answer to anything. As others have pointed out, all that changes is the badge. So the same pat down and molestation without a reach-around transitions from a TSA agent to a Private agent. That's it.
Defunding it isn't the answer either. The problem is not that TSA exists, it's that it is managed by morons. Giving up so much freedom (not even being able to bring a bottle of water on board through Security, having to take shoes off, receiving extra attention if you look anything but a stereotypical American, etc) and gaining nothing in safety. Personally, I'd rather put up with the 1% chance that a terrorist might be riding next to me than have to show up a day early at the airport and wear slippers to get on the plane.
The advantage is not to get out of the TSA style screenings. The TSA still has control over this and mandates the way travelers are screened. The advantage to hiring a private firm is that misconduct and laziness done by a private sector employee can be handled easier than with a federal employee. It is easier to screen out bad employees and keep good employees in the private sector. So, while some might still feel invaded, the hope is a private company will be more professional while doing the job.
This is more hope than certainty. Unfortunately it costs us more $$$$, and that $$$$ goes into the pockets of another layer of management, and of course... John Mica.
Just look at SFO. Its private. Costs 15% more tax $$ per screener. Has been blessed with an unusually high FTE, giving SFO more screeners, thus an even greater cost to the US tax payer. The screeners make more $$$ than their federal counterparts, and covenant was caught red handed cheating on a federal screening audit making themselves look better until an insider blew the whistle. And their PRIVATE screeners are still caught stealing things out of the luggage, but we, the United States Tax payer, have to pay for the loss and damages of those thefts because the TSA assumes the responsibility for it. IT'S ABSURD!
We need to end the TSA entirely, not just the screeners, because that will do nothing but cost us more $$$$$$$$$$!
Perhaps private screeners will stop the epidemic of TSA thieves stealing things from passengers.
This might explain the diapered elderly lady scandal at the Florida airport, if the TSA pool has two different sources.
To the people who want to replace the TSA with private security companies, have you already forgotten the lessons of 9/11? We tried private security screeners in the past and it didn't work. Remember, it was the minimum wage employees of private security companies who let Mohammed Atta and his minions onto planes with box cutters on 9/11. Since the TSA was created, guess what, we haven't had any more terrorist attacks. I'll take the TSA over a private screener any day of the week. Not every government function can be privatized.
I said it before and I'll say it again.The Jerks running the country at the time were told about 9/11.They pooh poohed the people who tried to tell them.
The excuse was oh one department doesn't talk to the other and Blah Blah Blah.
One department doesn't talk to the other?What kind of a half assed excuse is that?Utter Crap!
Bottom line 9/11 could of been prevented if the Idiots in charge knew what the hell they were doing and LISTENED.
Sorry NO EXCUSES.
You want to take the TSA over Terrorist attacks,well sweety knock yourself out, because the majority of people are really getting fed up to their eyeballs with the Fear Mongering, Paranoid,Idiotic Bull Crap of these OVER BLOWN NAZI'S,and their stupid molesting and scanning of people,plus violating the HELL out of their civil rights.You know what those are don't you?.It ABSOLUTEKLY DOES NOTHING FOR YOUR SAFETY, AND GUESS WHAT,IT HASN'T PREVENTED ANY TERORRIST ATTACKS.You know why?Because if a terrorist wants to attack they're are other ways of doing it besides an aircraft.I'm sure they know that by now!
Smarten the Hell Up,You're Extemely Gullible!
One more thing,I'm sorry to be so hard, but someone has got to stand their ground.The very foundation of the United States Constitution has been shaken since all these INSANE RULES came into place.They've obliterated an important portion of Human Rights.
If they insured safety, that's one thing.But there's nothing to say that they insure safety by these actions, if anything they endanger it, because people's civil rights are being stomped on, and a large portion of people are extremely angry, myself included.Unfortunately that's hard for a lot of people to understand, because they don't really realize the complexity of the constitution and what it really stands for, The very Foundation of this Nation.No one but no one has that right in this country to do what they're doing now.These people should technically be in Jail.
TSA is a terrorist group. And since when did they become part of Congress? The head of the TSA needs to be in jail period.
Ourdoc,I've been saying the same thing for 2 weeks.The charge should be blatantly violating the Constitution and Molestation.
Both heads of Homeland Security, and the TSA, need to be thrown in jail.Obama needs to really explain himself for going along with this trash.
What good would it do to have private contractors doing the security checks as long as they are under the policies of the TSA. There is no way around it. We must get rid of the TSA including John Pistole. As long as the sheeple are willing to trade their individual rights and liberty for ineffectual security we will continue to be insulted and groped by this unconstitutional organization.
typical Washington bureaucracy
norm903: The argument that needs to be driven is the one that get rid of the TSA as a whole. It is the TSA that forces the government and private (remember the you tube infant? that was a private screener following TSA directives) screeners to do their bidding.
The GAO found in 2010 that the privatized screening costs the US tax payer 15% more than their federal counterparts.
TSA failed when it was created. The hiring of thousands of FAA flunkies, (remember the million dollar trips to Hawaii, yeah.... former FAA employees), and no clear administrative direction has killed this agency from the very beginning.
We need to abolish the entire TSA, and stop using the TSA screener as a scapegoat for all the security issues that arise. Privatizing the screening workforce will just cost us more money..., for the same bull.
I live overseas, TSA is a joke to the rest of the world. It is also costing us money - I know foreign tourists (who have money to burn) who will not go to the US now because of the terrible reputation of the TSA agents. If they were at least polite, it wouldn't be so bad, but they are almost always nasty and dictatorial. And it is cheaper to fly to another country because of the security costs flying into the US. We are only shooting ourselves in the foot, and making the terrorists very happy to boot. Now they don't have to do anything to hurt us economically, we are doing it to ourselves!
Security checks in the UK and Australia run MUCH smoother and the agents are professional and polite. What is wrong with our people that they are so nasty??
If a terrorist wants to blow up a plane, he will get on overseas, anyway. Remember that the last couple of thwarted attacks were on planes TO the States, not on flights originating there.
Let me get this straight, you want to allow the TSA to dissolve? Talk about American short term memory. The concept of this even being a debate is staggering.
I totally agree. We Americans have the collective attention span of a gnat. And I've flown many times since 9/11 and haven't found the TSA screeners to be all that bad. Sure it's a little inconvenient to fly these days, but the alternative (another 9/11) is far, far worse. Reading most of the comments here makes wonder just how many people on this board are bloggers paid by a lobbying firm that represents private security companies just itching to get back into the game.
Bloggers paid by a lobbying firm?Oh you're a riot.Most of the bloggers on here aren't paid crap from anybody.Most of the bloggers on here are sounding off what they really feel.Most bloggers on here are purely pissed off for having their civil rights are being obliterated.Of course you wouldn't know that because most of the screeners have been nice to you.Nice?My my you are confused aren't you.Those nice screeners are making a total IDIOT OUT OF YOU.You don't even know it.In fact you don't even know what the 4th amendment is. You're air headed thinking is so screwed up,I bet you don't even know what day it is.
Bottom line one of these days you're going to meet up with a not so nice screener.Wake the Hell up!ypu're being played for a Giant Sucker!
To JohnnyInSNJ, and what short term Memory is that?Oh yeah the 9/11 thing again.Go to 18.1, and I'll tell you about 9/11.
Why can't our airports be like Be Gurion International in Israel? Over there they're actually looking for terrorist and not screening for terrorist. The answer: because over here, thanks wackos who think its an infringement on their rights, we can't profile like they do. Which is a shame, because over there they take their national security pretty dang seriously.