With the DHS shutdown dragging on, is it time to privatize airport security?

As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding shutdown continues, one of its more public-facing agencies impacted is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Airport screeners continue to work without being paid, even with the September 11th tax supporting the Transportation Security Administration still being collected from every passenger flying on a commercial flight. 

The TSA offers airports the option to engage private contractors to operate their security checkpoints through the TSA Screening Partnership Program (SPP). These contractors do not set security screening policies and standards; rather, they work in partnership with the TSA to ensure the same protocols are followed at all airports where TSA operates.     

Indeed, several airports have taken advantage of the SPP to have private contractors, not federal employees, manning their airport security checkpoints. Though this is mostly invisible to travelers at these airports, including San Francisco International and Kansas City International, their security checkpoints are operating business as usual, impervious to the political bickering that now defines our federal legislative process. 

The TSA was created out of necessity in response to the events of 9/11. Some lawmakers believe the agency has become superfluous, as evidenced by the Abolish TSA Act of 2025, supporting private entities taking over airport security checkpoints. Before abandoning the TSA entirely, however, one ought to look more closely at how the TSA brings value to airport security, and more broadly, aviation security for the national airspace system. 

Most people use the terms “airport security” and “aviation security” interchangeably. But aviation security includes far more than what people observe and experience at airport security checkpoints — it embodies the strategies employed, technologies deployed and procedures required that keep the national airspace safe. 

The TSA clearly defines the standards for airport security. This permits airport security checkpoints to operate effectively, smoothly and efficiently, independently of who employs the screeners. Aviation security programs like Secure Flight, Trusted Travelers and Federal Air Marshalls all support airport security, adding additional layers of protection for the national airspace system. 

The overriding strategy employed by the TSA is risk-based security. Though some passengers may not like being screened with an advanced imaging technology (also known as a full body scanner) or limiting liquids to three-ounce containers, the rational for such policies is based on understanding the risks to the air system and how bad actors may try to breach security with threat items.   

The more information that travelers provide about themselves, the less intrusive physical screening at airports may need to be. That is the foundation of the TSA PreCheck program, where passengers voluntarily provide information about themselves in exchange for expedited screening through airport security PreCheck lanes. Such lanes typically move faster and are less expensive to operate than standard screening lanes — a win-win for all. 

Airport security privatization would shrink the size of the TSA workforce at airports. It remains unclear if there would be a net saving to the federal government in operations, though overhead savings may be possible. Unsurprisingly, the union representing TSA officers is against such a change, since privatizing airport security checkpoint operations would mean a loss of people for the union. 

Union officials have even stated that contractor screeners may not provide as secure an air system. Yet there is no evidence to support such a statement. Moreover, waiting times at San Francisco International have been in line with other large hub international airports around the nation. The only difference between airports participating in the SPP and airports where TSA officers provide security is who is performing the screening, not what is being done. 

The current DHS shutdown will eventually end, and TSA officers will get paid for all the time they worked during the shutdown. Exploring airport security privatization through the SPP should be on every airport’s to-do list. Airports can choose to opt into the program and receive bids from contractors. Yet the TSA always sets the standards and ensures that all operations follow TSA protocols.  This is why airport security can be privatized, while aviation security should not. 

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He applies his expertise in data-driven risk-based decision-making to evaluate and inform public policy.  He has studied aviation security for over 30 years, contributing the technical foundations that justified the TSA PreCheck program.

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