Sacramento International Airport wants private security
May 14, 2012, 04:29 pm
Sacramento International Airport wants to replace federal security screeners with private contractors.
The airport is attempting to enhance customer service and believes non-governmental screeners would do as good a job, would be friendlier and could potentially get passengers through security faster than Transportation Security Administration screeners. But is it legal?
“An operator of an airport may submit to the Under Secretary an application to have the screening of passengers and property at the airport under section 44901 to be carried out by the screening personnel of a qualified private screening company under a contract entered into with the Under Secretary,” reads the security chapter of the federal aviation security law.
The final decision about the use of private screeners is in the hands of the TSA. Of the 450 airports in the United States, 16 use private security for airport screening, and the TSA has turned down five applications from airports seeking to use private screeners.
It may be hard for the average passenger to tell the difference between the TSA and private screeners. The private contractors are paid by the federal government instead of the airport, and trained and supervised by the TSA. The private screeners even wear TSA uniforms.
San Francisco International is the largest of the 16 airports with private screeners, and many argue the difference goes unnoticed.
"Ask anybody who has been through San Francisco. It is generally unnoticeable,” said Joe Brancatelli, an advocate for business flyers.
Another frequent flyer and aviation blogger with upgrd.com, Matthew Klint focuses on TSA issues and said that in his experience, the private screeners were friendlier than the TSA and that they even try harder.
Sacramento has met with airport officials and is waiting for its application to be approved. Much of the airport’s animosity toward the TSA comes from instances in 2004 when security wait times increased by more than a half hour on average, taking nearly 90 minutes on some days.
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