Trump administration pushes to privatize airport security with new Gold+ program

Travelers at three U.S. airports may soon experience changes in security lines as the Trump administration advances a new initiative to privatize more screening processes. Tampa, Charleston, and Des Moines international airports are the first to join the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Gold+ program.

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The union that represents federal workers, including TSA agents, has publicly denounced the new program and the administration's push to privatize airport security screenings.

This program permits airports to hire private firms to conduct security screenings, a departure from relying solely on federal TSA employees. While private screening is common in Europe, with over 80% of commercial airports using it, and exists in 20 U.S. airports under the existing Screening Partnership Program, the Gold+ initiative significantly expands this model. Aviation security expert Sheldon Jacobson described Gold+ as putting the existing program "on steroids."

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privatizing airport security is a "major departure and step backwards" from the systems that Congress put in place following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The American Federation of Government Employees, representing federal workers, has strongly opposed the privatization push. National president Everett Kelley stated that privatizing security is a "major departure and step backwards" from the systems established after the September 11 attacks, warning of potentially "devastating and deadly consequences."

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We don't have to theorize about what that may look like because we have been through this before and witnessed the devastating and deadly consequences.

The Gold+ program allows airports to contract private companies for both implementing new technology and conducting screenings, unlike the older program which required TSA-provided technology. Aviation security expert Jeff Price noted that the "driving force behind this initiative is speed and agility," contrasting it with the slow pace of federal procurement for technology. However, the TSA will maintain oversight, setting security standards, policies, and procedures, ensuring that private contractors adhere to federal requirements and that their agents receive the same training as TSA officers.

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The driving force behind this initiative is speed and agility. The standard federal procurement cycle for screening technology can move at a glacial pace.