Privatization

Airports Are Opting for Private Security Over the TSA. The Union Says That's a Public Safety Threat.

Airport security screeners at the 20 private-contract airports get paid during a government shutdown. A public sector union wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Tosin Akintola | 7.24.2026 3:38 PM

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The union for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees is worried about the agency's turn toward privatization.

Earlier this week, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)—which represents 47,000 Transportation Security Officers at 400 airports across the country—issued a press release calling the Trump administration's "push" to put airport security screening in the hands of private contractors a threat to its members' jobs and public safety.

The statement came after three airports—Tampa International Airport, Des Moines International Airport, and Charleston International Airport—announced that they would join the TSA's Gold program, a "public-private partnership" initiative by the Trump administration soft-launched in May. The program allows any of the 440 commercial airports under TSA control to voluntarily opt in to a "tailored security screening service" based on their needs. 

Airports in the program can either work with private contractors or bid to provide security screenings themselves, with........

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