As TSA Chaos Spreads, Some Airports Have Solved the Security-Screening Problem

I f ever there was a real-life example of why airport security needs to be turned over to private vendors, it’s the mess the flying public is facing this week.

The partial government shutdown, caused by Congress’s failure to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, has interrupted Transportation Security Administration agents’ paychecks. Many are therefore calling in sick, taking side jobs, or finding they can’t afford to go to work because of childcare and the cost of commuting.

Things will only worsen this week. “If a deal isn’t cut, you’re going to see what’s happening today look like child’s play,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN on Friday. He says small airports could shut down entirely if the staffing crisis persists. Whereas air traffic controllers are paid through the Department of Transportation, TSA agents are part of DHS, which can’t issue checks.

But this disaster differs from previous government-wide shutdowns. Some airports have no shortage of security agents and are not suffering from long lines and wait times. These are the 20 airports that have jumped through the TSA’s high bureaucratic hoops and are allowed to use private contractors to conduct screening. Among them are the Kansas City and San Francisco International Airports. Security personnel at these airports are being paid normally and showing up for work as expected. It’s time to make this exception in airport security the rule.

The Washington Post’s editorial board notes:

A government agency regulating itself creates conflicts of interest. International Civil Aviation Organization standards say that security providers and regulators should be independent.

Major countries around the world follow this best practice. Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Spain use private contractors for passenger screening. Even in other countries where the government is the provider, it’s rarely a national bureaucratic agency doing the screenings.

President Trump has reportedly ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to report to airports on Monday to reduce the lengthy delays at security checkpoints. But this means that ICE will be diverted from its important border enforcement work. Moreover, ICE agents will likely need time to learn airport procedures, and some local public or airport officials might resist the agency’s help. They could try to block the president’s move by claiming that it poses the risk of enabling ICE overreach, increasing the likelihood of ethnic profiling, or turning airports into immigration enforcement checkpoints.

Instead of repurposing ICE, Trump should issue a blanket waiver of the TSA’s usual rules and regulations to allow all airports to hire private security screeners, effective immediately. While at it, he should also ask Congress to vote on a permanent fix to replicate the success of some foreign airports. Germany’s Frankfurt Airport and the United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport in London, for example, are able to serve as major worldwide hubs in part because they employ private firms that safely expedite the transfer of millions of passengers. El Al, meanwhile, the privately owned Israeli airline, uses its own security personnel rather than relying on either a state agency or independent contractors.

There is no excuse for the U.S. to continue to operate under an antiquated model of airport security management. American travelers should never again be subject to the whims of Washington.