Atlanta’s airport may swap TSA for private screeners

Atlanta mulls private airport security

Atlanta City Council is considering a move to private security at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to prevent the massive traveler delays seen during federal government shutdowns.

ATLANTA - An Atlanta City Council member is exploring a proposal to privatize security screening at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport following record-high Transportation Security Administration officer absences during a six-week federal government shutdown.

The move comes after unpaid TSA employees called in sick in unprecedented numbers, leaving the world's busiest airport struggling to manage security lines that stretched from checkpoints to the opposite end of the terminal.

The proposed shift to private contractors aims to stabilize staffing and prevent the massive delays seen during the funding impasse.

The backstory:

Record numbers called out. Some couldn’t afford gas to get to the job or childcare. The personnel shortage meant passengers waiting on security lines, at times, for hours.

"Once we witnessed the long lines and the disaster of what has become TSA due to budget constraints, it is our duty, I believe, to find better ways to service our customers," said Atlanta City Councilman Byron Amos, District 3.

Amos says he’ll introduce a proposal to examine if handing over security screening to a private company could prevent that nightmare from plaguing passengers again. He’s calling for an independent firm to conduct a feasibility study on privatization.

"(It’s) just a piece of paper that says come back with a 90-day study of the feasibility," Amos said. "If it’s good, if it’s bad, what it’ll cost, how would we do it if we decide to do it? At least answer some questions that we’re unclear of now."

What they're saying:

George Borek, union steward with the American Federation of Government Employees representing Atlanta-area TSA workers, says federal TSA employees are best trained to do the job. "I do not like the idea of privatizing," Borek said. "You have a for-profit company. What does that mean? What weighs more? Is it, at the end of the day, the dollars, or is it the screening?"

Borek would rather see Congress set aside money to ensure workers get paid no matter what. "Why don’t you put away a 60-day fund? Just in case Congress can never come up with a solution, at least 60 days, you could still be paying the TSA officers," Borek said.

Ramnath Chellappa, Professor of Information Systems at Emory’s Goizueta Business School, says dozens of other airports already contract out security screening. And Chellappa says private companies would not be subject to federal budget battles. "Privatization can help," Chellappa said. "Private firms would ensure that they will get paid."

Chellappa says there would need to be government oversight to make sure private companies properly train employees and ensure security.

What's next:

Councilman Amos will introduce his privatization proposal at the next city council meeting on April 20.