Transportation Security

Changes after 9/11

Airports have the right to hire a private company to perform screening, provided it follows TSA-established procedures and the company is approved by the TSA. Covenant Aviation Security, for instance, based in Chicago, was founded in 2002 to provide security services to the aviation industry and almost immediately took over screening at the San Francisco International and Tupelo Regional airports. It later took on screening at the Sioux Falls Regional and Sioux Falls International airports and provides security services (such as personnel screening, security assessments, perimeter intrusion detection systems, and closed-circuit television monitoring) at the Orlando International, LaGuardia, and John F. Kennedy International airports. Other aviation security contractors include FirstLine Transportation Security, which provides screening services for Kansas City International Airport, and Trinity Technology Group, which provides such services for airports in Tupelo, Mississippi, and Sonoma, California, as well as security support at TSA headquarters.

Some Congressmen have supported further involvement of the private sector in transportation security and a greater reliance on contractors to provide screening and other services, but there have been several high-profile problems. The Department of Homeland Security's internal investigation discovered that at San Francisco International Airport, Covenant employees were tipped off by TSA employees about secret tests of their screening procedures; despite the investigation, no one was fired, and Covenant's contract was renewed. Another contractor, data analyst James Duchak, tampered with the TSA's Terrorist Screening Database when he was given two weeks’ notice of termination; he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Other changes were made to transportation security after the September 11 attacks as well. Cockpit doors on newer aircraft are stronger and bulletproof, and few flights permit passengers to enter the cockpit during flight. Enhanced requirements were placed on passengers boarding flights—most passengers must provide a government-issued photo ID—and airport patrons who are not boarding a flight are no longer allowed beyond designated points, whereas in the past family and friends could accompany a departing passenger to the gate to see them off. The TSA's screening procedure has been enhanced, requiring scans or patdowns of most passengers at most airports, and limitations on which objects can be included in carry-on luggage. A single incident of explosives hidden in the shoes of Al Qaeda member Richard Reid in 2002 led to the requirement for passengers to remove shoes before boarding at all U.S. airports, even a decade later.

...