Closing An Airport Security Gap: Employee Screening

Jan. 28, 2015
Miami, Orlando are only airports that routinely check all workers; but can TSA handle it?

A trio of recent incidents is fueling new scrutiny of U.S. airport security procedures that allow nearly a million workers nationwide—including baggage handlers, mechanics and aircraft cleaners—access to airport facilities without routine screening.

Checks of such workers have long been put off because of funding and other concerns. But the experience of the two major U.S. airports—in Miami and Orlando—that do comprehensive screening suggests the costs and logistical hurdles are manageable.

Last month, prosecutors charged two men, a former Delta Air Lines Inc. employee and a then-current Delta baggage handler, in an alleged gunrunning scheme involving the use of the employee’s access privileges to sneak firearms—some loaded—into Atlanta’s airport, then carry them in aircraft cabins on flights to New York.

This month a Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector was found with a gun in his carry-on bag when he arrived in New York from Atlanta, the FAA said. The agency said it has suspended a program that allowed such inspectors to bypass security screenings, and the employee is under investigation.

More details here.