Three US Airports Adopt Gold+ Private Security to Reduce Wait Times

The Shift to Gold+ Screening

Three U.S. airports—Tampa International Airport, Des Moines International Airport, and Charleston International Airport—have officially opted into the Transportation Security Administration’s new Gold+ screening initiative. An agency spokesperson confirmed the transition on Wednesday. This program represents an expansion of an existing voluntary model, an initiative billed by the agency as an update to a program through which 20 U.S. airports, including San Francisco International, use private security screeners rather than federal workers.

Nationally, the number of Transportation Security Administration screeners is down 15 percent since 2011, a reduction that has coincided with a surge in passenger volume across the domestic travel network. This transition has prompted staunch opposition from the union that represents thousands of T.S.A. workers.

Operational Pressures and Nationwide Delays

Airports nationwide have seen security checkpoint lines double in size, with wait times hitting up to 90 minutes. These conditions caused spring break chaos at airports from Charlotte to Chicago to California. American Airlines reported that in just one week last month, nearly 6,800 of their domestic passengers missed their scheduled flights because of long security lines. Major airports across the country have reported that security wait times have swelled, with lines at Phoenix Sky Harbor reaching 45 minutes or longer, and travelers in Atlanta and Minneapolis-Saint Paul clocking nearly an hour before TSA inspects carry-on luggage.

The decision by the three airports follows widespread reports of significant delays at major hubs. At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA-TAC), security lines can stretch over an hour.

“We’re going to investigate what it would take to privatize, we’re looking at other airports that have privatized.”

Tampa, Des Moines and Charleston Airports Transition to Gold+ Private Screening

Lance Lyttle, Managing Director at SEA-TAC, via CBS News

In the interim, SEA-TAC officials are hiring private contractors to manage administrative duties. The goal is to free up federal TSA personnel to focus exclusively on screening, a measure intended to alleviate the pressure caused by high passenger throughput.

TSA Administrator Response to Security Concerns

TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger has acknowledged that the current state of airport security lines constitutes a genuine security concern. He noted that the backups are not merely an inconvenience for travelers, but a potential risk due to the concentration of large crowds in terminal areas.

“I do have concerns about long wait times because it does gather people up and in addition to being an inconvenience for the traveler, which is no small problem, it does propose a potential challenge with respect to large crowds of people.”

Peter Neffenger, TSA Administrator, via CBS News

To mitigate the crisis, Neffenger stated the agency is working to improve its ability to move people through by shifting resources to the highest-volume airports, front-loading hiring, and training more people than ever before. Despite these measures, the agency has faced criticism from airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, where officials have described the current workforce as woefully understaffed and are considering privatizing the security screening process.

Factors Driving the Privatization Trend

The shift toward private screening is fueled by a confluence of systemic issues, including an increase in passengers, an increased focus on screening as opposed to efficiency, and far fewer Americans who have signed up for TSA PreCheck than the agency hoped for. Additionally, there has been a budget cap on the number of TSA screeners the agency can hire and train. While Neffenger noted the agency is rapidly filling open positions, he indicated he will likely need to ask Congress for more screeners to address the ongoing challenges.