TSA’s new ‘Gold+’ program to boost private security screening : NPR

Transportation Security Administration agents monitor a checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, in this 2010 photo. The agency was created after the September 11, 2001 attacks, but not all U.S. airports use federal screeners.

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WASHINGTON — Federal agents conduct security screenings at all but a small fraction of U.S. airports, but the Trump administration hopes to change that. Under the Transportation Security Administration’s new program called TSA Gold+, private companies would play a much larger role in airport security than they have in decades.

TSA is set to host airport officials and security contractors for an “industry day” at its headquarters in Springfield, Virginia, on Thursday as part of the development of TSA Gold+, a public-private program the agency calls “transformative.”

The agency presents the program as an update to the Screening Partnership Program, or SPP, in which 20 U.S. airports currently use private security screeners rather than federal employees.

“TSA Gold+ marks a significant evolution in the agency’s approach to aviation security,” a TSA spokesperson told NPR via an emailed statement.

The agency says airports that join the program would be able to tailor security systems to their facilities — and avoid the TSA staffing shortages that became a very public headache at airports during the recent government shutdown over Homeland Security funding.

It also says the program would bring “the latest technologies” such as AI tools to airport screening operations, to increase capacity and reduce wait times, although the agency did not specify how those gains would be achieved. Based on the details shared so far, the equipment would be the responsibility of contractors – a departure from the current SPP system, in which TSA screens the equipment and oversees the security contract. The TSA says it will assume the surveillance role it currently plays.

“Industry partners can manage equipment and introduce innovations, while travelers benefit from a seamless, predictable, and tailored experience,” TSA said in unveiling TSA Gold+.

Airports currently using the Private Screening Partnership program range from San Francisco and Kansas City to Sarasota, Florida, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as well as smaller facilities in Montana, Wyoming and other states.

Calls for the privatization of airport security screening have come from President Trump and congressional Republicans, echoing a recommendation in conservatives’ Blueprint 2025 playbook for a second Trump term. But there are also signs of bipartisan interest in some level of private oversight over airport security, as seen in Atlanta, where city leaders recently voted to potentially join the Screening Partnership Program.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, touted the bipartisan interest Wednesday during a hearing on TSA modernization. But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents TSA agents, said he opposed further privatization, including the TSA Gold+ program, warning that it would hinder accountability and transparency.

Under the new program, Kelley said, contract workers would earn less than TSA agents. He added that although many transportation security officers hold security clearances, under the new plan the government would “cede direct operational control of the aviation security enterprise’s most sensitive technology to private vendors.”

The White House budget released last month promises to save some $52 million by privatizing airport screeners and requiring smaller airports to sign up for SPP.

But officials at the hearing urged lawmakers to preserve airports’ ability to choose.

Chris McLaughlin, CEO of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, noted that the SPP has been in place since aviation security underwent drastic changes following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which led to the creation of the TSA and the SPP system.

“We’ve had federalized screening for almost 25 years,” McLaughlin said. “Large airports like San Francisco have had an SPP program for 25 years.”

The arrangements at both airports work well for them, he told Garbarino.

“The system has been safe for 25 years,” he said. “It’s important that airports have options.”

The new “Gold+” program echoes the Trump administration’s promise to offer the American public a “golden age of travel.” Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy touted the plans earlier this week, unveiling $970 million in funding to improve the passenger experience at airports, from adding family-friendly security screening lanes to improving restrooms and children’s play areas.

Money for these projects comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a Biden-era law aimed at modernizing aging airport infrastructure.