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One in Four Airports Eager to Return to Private Screeners
About one quarter of the nation�s commercial airports no longer want government employees screening passengers and baggage, preferring private companies working under federal supervision, a congressman said on March 25.
Airport directors are upset with the Transportation Security Administration�s inability to adjust staffing to meet demand, which results in long waits at some airports, said Rep. John Mica, R-Fl., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
He said he had met with more than a dozen airport directors from around the country.
Some large airports, such as those in Orlando, FL, and Los Angeles, have only 80 percent of the screeners needed, while some small airports have far too many.
�It appears it�s almost impossible for the TSA to micromanage staff and deal with schedule changes and fluctuations in traffic at all 429 (commercial) airports,� Mica said.
Congress created the TSA after the Sept. 11 attacks and ordered it to replace the privately employed screeners with a better paid, better trained federal work force.
Lawmakers gave airports the option of returning to private screeners on Nov. 19, 2004, three years after President Bush signed the bill into law.
Mica said he expects more than 100 will take that option.
Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, of the aviation subcommittee, blamed understaffing for the long lines.
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