WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the exclusive union representative of 47,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) at 400 airports across the country, says the Trump administration’s push to expand the privatization of airport security screening functions ignores lessons learned from the Sept. 11 attacks and other airline tragedies.
The Transportation Security Administration notified AFGE on Monday that the agency intends to launch a new privatization program called TSA Gold+ at three airports next year: Tampa, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; and Des Moines, Iowa.
This new program would put private contractors in control not only of security screening functions but the screening technology itself – the very machines that detect explosives, weapons, and other prohibited items. While TSA staff theoretically would provide oversight, they would no longer be directly in charge of screening passengers or carry-on items at these participating airports.
“Make no mistake – this is a major departure and step backwards from the aviation screening security system that Congress created in the wake of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 and the deadly bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said.
“Changes of this magnitude should not be made behind closed doors without the input of Congress, the flying public, the local airport authorities, and TSA employees themselves,” Kelley said.
It’s also not the only attempt by TSA to expand the privatization of airport security. The administration’s fiscal 2027 budget proposes to eliminate 8,400 TSO positions – roughly 14% of TSA’s screening workforce. About 4,500 of those positions would be replaced by private contractors through a proposed mandatory expansion of the Screening Partnership Program to include all small and non-hub airports, known as Categories III and IV, respectively. Currently about 20 of the nation’s 440 commercial airports have opted to use private screening, but the administration’s proposal would expand that number more than tenfold to about 220 airports.
“The Trump administration’s clear objective is to ultimately privatize all aviation security screening functions, and 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,” Kelley said.
“The administration’s actions should concern all Americans, and AFGE will continue to speak out against any proposal that threatens our members’ jobs and jeopardizes the safety of the flying public.”