TSA Terminates Contractor at SFO After 24 Years
Traveling through security at San Francisco International Airport will appear a little different this holiday season after the contract for providing passenger and baggage security screening services shifts to a different company.
While the screening process will remain the same at SFO, the employees conducting screenings are preparing to work for a new boss, one with a towering influence over the country’s aviation security operations.
Covenant Aviation Security has screened travelers at SFO under contract from the Transportation Security Administration since 2002. CAS is part of the Screening Partnership Program, launched at the same time as TSA, but after 24 years, the relationship is coming to an end in San Francisco.
Michael Bolles, president of CAS, told SFGATE in an email that TSA awarded the SFO contract to a new holder “as part of their normal competition process.”
In July, VMD, a Virginia firm part of the conglomerate Xcelerate Solutions, won a five-year contract for SFO. The company takes over from the Illinois-headquartered CAS at SFO starting in December.
The transition triggered a Monday WARN filing with state employment officials, noting that 1,279 CAS employees were to be permanently laid off by Nov. 30. However, VMD spokesperson Marta Czarnecki told SFGATE that the notice does not translate to a massive wave of layoffs for SFO screeners.
“We try our best to keep those employees that are good workers,” Czarnecki said. “Nobody is guaranteed a job, but obviously it’s in everyone’s good interest to keep those employees there.”
Czarnecki confirmed that VMD is hiring for positions at SFO, and a recent job post noted that the company is specifically seeking applicants from existing CAS personnel. SFO has a worker retention policy that stipulates that the next contractor must keep the employees of a predecessor “for a 90-day trial employment period.”
Many of the CAS employees are represented by the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West. Sanjay Garla, the union’s airports director, said that SEIU-USWW is in “ongoing talks with VMD and have a written agreement with them concerning the retention of current Covenant employees that we expect they will honor.”
Joe Grandov, a security officer at CAS for over 13 years, said they’re in the early stages of negotiating contracts with VMD. “For us, the workforce, we see what’s happening, but since VMD has never worked with a union, we want to make sure we set up a contract right away. When we start with them on Dec. 1, we want to have a contract in play.”
While the transition is not expected to impact airport screening operations, especially during the busy travel season, astute travelers will notice a new acronym while passing through security at SFO.
The three-letter acronym CAS, which has appeared on the shoulders of SFO screening officers for decades, is out; “VMD” is in. “You’ll see it on the uniforms,” Czarnecki said. “We’ve already done fittings.”
Grandov said that VMD started cozying up to CAS workers a couple of years ago before the most recent bid for the SFO contract came up. During the transition, he said, VMD and CAS are not necessarily in lockstep.
“Those of us in the trenches, the way we look at it, is it’s like an angry divorce. Where the two parents are pissed off at each other and don’t want to help each other in any way. And the ones who get hurt the worst are the kids — us,” Grandov said. “Covenant doesn’t have to help, so they’re pretty much not helping. VMD is trying to get things done and working with us to ready the transition. We’ve all gotten measured for uniforms.”
While TSA provides security screening at most airports, SFO is among a short list of 20 airports participating in the Screening Partnership Program. TSA manages the program, and contractors perform the same duties. SFO is among the largest participants in the program, which also includes Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport.
Czarnecki said VMD is “the largest contractor in the Screening Partnership Program” and is currently operating at Kansas City International Airport, Atlantic City International Airport, Greater Rochester International Airport and eight airports in Montana.
Republican lawmakers started advocating for stripping down TSA last year, and the initiative is taking off. VMD recently inked a deal with TSA to raise its contract limit to $5 billion, suggesting that the federal government has a preferred contractor to make good on its move to privatize airport security.
Earlier this year, TSA quietly rolled out an expansion of the Screening Partnership Program called TSA Gold+ to promote private contractors. Three airports — Des Moines International Airport, Charleston International Airport and Tampa International Airport — announced they would be abandoning TSA to launch Gold+ next year. However, a few months later, TSA abruptly spiked the idea, and Gold+ was discontinued without an explanation.
This story has been updated.
More Travel
— The controversial new hack for skipping the line at Arches National Park
— California airport warns SFO travelers to ask 'friend with a truck' for rides
— Calif. locals hated a hideous surf statue. 19 years later, the Cardiff Kook is beloved.
— Travelers discovered California's 'secret coast.' Locals are conflicted.
For more travel news and features, sign up for our TravelSkills newsletter here.
© 2026 SFGate, San Francisco. Visit www.sfgate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.