The Transport Security Administration was created after terrorist attacks that took place in September 2001 where hijackers took dominance of four airliners. The attack led to the death of 2996 people while more than 6000 were injured. The fundamental issue was not the use of private companies but also the inadequate FAA oversight and over-dependence on airline funding (Roberts, 2016). TSA was given the responsibility to develop and implement policies to safeguard the nation’s transport systems. However, the Transport Security Administration has failed in some of its duties and has brought about many inconveniences and unnecessary expenses.
Auditors realized that the government’s way wasn’t any better compared to the private screening. Some of the cons of the government operating system of security are high employee turnover and increase in screening failures incidents. 2002-2011, the government spent approximately $2.4 billion on training and hiring of employees. Problems in the management that are mostly from the massive workforce affect the performance of the TSA in meeting its core responsibilities. The TSA has also been reported to have expensive failures (Poole, 2015). The TSA spends a lot of non-vetted new technologies which end up in the storage. The TSA also spends a lot on expensive programs such as the SPOT program which is not very efficient. The SPOT program is one of the most significant government security system failures.
Another disadvantage is expensive air marshal services. The TSA system is also a waste of time because of the long queues and congestion at the airports while people follow the security procedures. There is also an invasion of traveler’s privacy. The TSA goes beyond its transportation security responsibility to police interrogative roles.
Because of the above disadvantages of TSA, privatized security can be implemented. The workers at the San Francisco International Airport under the Security department are employed by a private contractor. Under a privatized security it is easy to manage and control employees who don’t work efficiently than on the government side which helps solve the problem of high employee turnover in TSA. Other advantages of the privatized system are the improvement in staffing flexibility and better customer service which is essential to the airports for them to remain competitive in the market (Roberts, 2016). This will help quicken activities at checkpoints and reduce frustrations. It is also easy for private firms to improve their performance as compared to government bureaucracies because of the existing competition. The privatized security also cuts down expenses incurred in the case of the TSA (Poole, 2015). In addition to having privatized security, foreign-owned security firms should be excluded.
However, trying to make the services better at the expense of security is dangerous. Privatized security is also prone to terrorists since most of its solutions revolve around reducing waste of time. Privatization has also failed in the past as much as TSA. There is also a question on who trains and certifies the employees of these private firms. Privatization also diminishes public union rights that are an essential part of why people become first responders.
Recommendations
Some programs which depict little importance such as SPOT and FAMs should be abolished. Baggage and passenger screening roles should be devolved to airports and allow competitive private firms to take up the positions. However, if the TSA should remain, the number of screeners in the airport should be increased. Efficiency in the TSA management can also be improved by getting rid of rigid political correctness. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security should expand its appropriations to the TSA instead of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
References
Poole, R. W. (2015). Cost‐Effective Airport Security Policy. Securing Transportation Systems, 205-231.
Roberts, D. (2016). Aviation Security and the Challenges the Industry Faces Providing Safe and Secure Transportation.
