Transportation Committee Chairman URGING AIRPORTS TO DROP TSA

8/8/2019 Transportation Committee Chairman URGING AIRPORTS TO DROP TSA

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Letter to Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority from Transportation and

Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Rep. John Mica (R-Fl.). (Urging 200

major national airports to switch from government DHS, TSA authority to

private security companies.)

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RESPONSE TO CHAIRMAN JOHN MICA from Metropolitan

Washington Airport Authority:

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"The bonuses are pretty handsome," Berry said. "We have to

be good - equal or better than the feds. So we work at it, and we

incentivize."

Some of the nation's biggest airports are responding to recent

public outrage over security screening by weighing whether they

should hire private firms such as Covenant to replace the

Transportation Security Administration. Sixteen airports,

including San Francisco and Kansas City International Airport,

have made the switch since 2002. One Orlando airport has

approved the change but needs to select a contractor, and

several others are seriously considering it.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which

governs Dulles International and Reagan National airports, is

studying the option, spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said.

For airports, the change isn't about money. At issue, airport

managers and security experts say, is the unwieldy size and

bureaucracy of the federal aviation security system. Privatefirms may be able to do the job more efficiently and with a

personal touch, they argue.

Airports that choose private screeners must submit the request

to the TSA. There are no specific criteria for approval, but

federal officials can decide whether to grant the request "based

on the airport's record of compliance on security regulations

and requirements." The TSA pays for the cost of the screeningand has the final say on which company gets the contract.

Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), the incoming chairman of the House

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has written to

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111206580.html


http://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm

http://www.mwaa.com/


http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/John_L._Mica



http://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm

http://www.mwaa.com/


http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/John_L._Mica



200 of the nation's largest airports, urging them to consider

switching to private companies.

The TSA was "never intended to be an army of 67,000

employees," he said.

"If you look at [the TSA's] performance, have they ever stopped

a terrorist? Anyone can get through," Mica said in an interview.

"We've been very lucky, very fortunate. TSA should focus on its

mission: setting up the protocol, adapting to the changing

threats and gathering intelligence."

The debate

The differences between private firms' employees and federal

workers are often imperceptible to the everyday traveler.

Covenant security details use different badges and insignia and

have higher pay for new employees.

Procedures in airport security lines do not change. Thirty

private firms are contracted by the TSA to potentially work as

screeners, and their employees are required by federal law to

undergo the same training, use the same pat-down techniques

and operate the same equipment - such as full-body scanners -

that the TSA does.

With a reduced role, the TSA could become more of a

regulatory agency, leaving much of the daily work on the

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/12/26/GR2010122600037.html?sid=ST2010122304471

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/12/26/GR2010122600037.html?sid=ST2010122304471



ground to for-profit companies. But federal officials say the

expertise and training offered at the 457 TSA-regulated airports

are unparalleled.

"U.S. aviation security technology and procedures are driven by

the latest intelligence and give us the best chance to detect and

disrupt any potential threat, given the tools currently

available," TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball said.

It's unclear whether private screeners cost the TSA more. One

independent report found that private security contracts were 9

to 17 percent higher than the TSA's costs. Mica says thedifference is "concocted."

The TSA also offers performance-based incentives. Employees

who reach the highest performance rating can get a pay raise

and a $2,500 bonus.

Many security and airline industry officials say the switch to a

network of privately run screeners could hinder much of thegovernment's progress since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Robert W. Mann, an industry analyst and former airline

executive based in New York, said airports who are considering

a switch to private screeners are simply responding to

"consumer outrage." Mann says a a better solution is tougher

regulations and training for federal security officers.

"We can't go back to the late '90s when private screeners had

McDonald's-level wages and attention spans to match," Mann

said. "A uniform, tough government system makes a lot of

sense."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122005599.html?hpid=newswell

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/20/AR2010122005599.html?hpid=newswell



The American Federation of Government Employees, the labor

union for TSA employees, has questioned the privatization of

airport security as well, calling it an ineffective "patchwork

quilt."

Passenger-rights groups' opinions are mixed. Weary of big

business but locked in a long-running fight over federal security

methods, many travelers say they would like to see far-reaching

government reforms and a limited amount of privatization.

"The private security is pretty good and rigid," said Kate

Hanni, who runs Flyers Rights out of Napa, Calif., which countsmore than 30,000 members. "But as long as the scanners and

pat-downs are in place, the experience is going to be the same."

Hanni said trade groups, nonprofit organizations, airports and

federal officials are working to "get on the good side of Mica" as

he becomes chairman of the House transportation committee.

But what the debate over private-vs.-government security mostclearly shows is TSA's customer-service issues, said Paul Light,

a professor of public service at New York University who has

followed the TSA since it was created in 2001. In its early days,

the TSA consulted Marriott International, the Walt Disney Co.

and Intel on ways to speed people through checkpoints and

make fliers happy.

"TSA forgot about customer service," Light said. "The early

executives were worried about smiley faces, wait times. They've

lost sight of that."



Covenant, based in Mica's home district in northeastern coastal

Florida, has airport screening contracts in Sioux Falls, S.D.,

Tupelo, Miss., and seven small airports in northern and eastern

Montana. Its deal at San Francisco International is by far itslargest. Covenant employs nearly 1,100 people in the bay area,

who make up nearly all of its 1,150 workers. The last four-year

contract, from 2006 to 2010, totaled $314 million. A new

contract has been put out for competitive bids. Meanwhile,

Covenant is operating on a two-month contract ending in

February.

San Francisco airport officials say that they are happy with theCovenant contract and that "by allowing Covenant to worry

about staffing, TSA can focus on the security," airport

spokesman Michael C. McCarron said.

Berry, Covenant's president and a former Marine colonel who

served two tours flying helicopters in Vietnam, has become the

face of the private security movement, extolling the virtues of

private business in fostering better and safer environments ontelevision news programs and before congressional panels.

"We're smaller, we can react much quicker to things and I

think a lot of airports want to be more customer service-

oriented," he said. "There's a reason not one of the 16 airports

that have opted out have gone back to TSA."

Few government or third-party reports have been produced inthe past eight years that compare the performance of private

companies with that of the government in airport security. The

lone outside study, commissioned by the TSA and written by an

Arlington County information technology firm, compared a

http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/index.jsp

http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/index.jsp



dozen airports and looked at data from 2004 through 2007. It

found that private screeners perform at a level "equal to or

better" than their government counterparts.

The full study's findings have never been released.

Orlando's two commercial airports, Orlando International and

Orlando Sanford International, were bringing in Covenant and

FirstLine last month for presentations on taking over airport

security. Orlando Sanford approved the change to privatization

in October, before the uproar over the TSA's screening methods

even began.Orlando Sanford President Larry Dale said private screening

would be "more enjoyable" for the traveling public and

potentially spur business.

"This country was built on competition, on private investment,"

Dale said, "and I've gotten a lot of complaints from passengers

about the new screening. We're a business after all, and we haveto look out for our customers."

Other airports, including Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World

Airport and Indianapolis International Airport, have said

publicly they are studying whether a change would improve

their bottom line.

The Kansas City airport, which was one of the first tochoose aprivate security operator, said the biggest difference in using

private screeners is the ability to get security issues resolved

quickly.



"Unlike a government job, these contract employees can be

removed immediately with poor performance, attitude or

unsuitability," said Kansas City airport director Mark VanLoh.

"It shows in our passenger surveys for customer satisfactioneach year."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2010/12/30/AR2010123005225_3.html?

hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010123005248

By Derek KravitzWashington Post Staff Writer

Friday, December 31, 2010; 12:00 AM

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Related story of interest

• Auditors question TSA's use of and spending on technology

• Are airport X-ray machines catching more than naked images?

• Air traffic controllers made record number of mistakes in 2010, data show

• Covenant memo on the Screening Partnership Program (pdf)

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/30/AR2010123005225_3.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010123005248



http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/articles/derek+kravitz/





http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/ssi/wpc/privatescreening.pdf











Covenant memo on the Screening Partnership Program

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Transportation Committee Chairman URGING AIRPORTS TO DROP TSA