Market Solutions: Transport Safety

By Jacob C. Maichel

Anyone who has flown within the last two decades understands how frustrating the process can be. Arriving hours earlier than takeoff to combat the setbacks that could prevent you from making your flight is frustrating. It seems the security model provided by the government has no alternative, but what if private industry had more freedom to do screenings? Surely companies with an incentive to outperform their rivals would be a more efficient solution than the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Previous to one of the most devastating acts of terrorism, 9/11, the majority of airport security was handled by private companies. The issue with the previous model was that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversaw the private companies. Before 9/11 the majority of the rules set in place by the FAA were to protect against plane malfunctions or natural disasters, as they had little desire to be a law enforcement agency1. After the attacks congress unanimously approved a fully federal screening system which created the TSA in 2001. By 2002 the TSA was based in the Department of Homeland Security and boasted the 4th largest budget in the building. A fully federal system was actually opposed by then president George W. Bush and the House of Representatives, who both pushed for private security with strict federal oversight.

There is a small program called the Screening Partnership Program (SPP) that meets much resistance from the TSA. The SPP program allows for airports to opt in for private screeners rather than the traditional TSA approach and currently 22 airports take advantage of this. One of the largest adopters of this is the San Francisco airport. A study by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee revealed in 2011 that screening inside of San Francisco International was 65% more efficient than federal screening at Los Angeles. Some of the factors that are attributed to this dominance is less employee turnover which leads to better workers, and more flexible staffing measures such as scheduling.

San Francisco really exhibited the benefits of being private during the recent government shutdown. During the shutdown TSA employees calling in sick increased 272%, while none of the 22 privatized airports had any delays. Being private also allows for more focus to be on the security of the consumer. In 2015 there was a test by the inspector general where 67/70 weapons made it past TSA screening points. If this happened to a private service provider the airline could simply switch to new security. For private screeners being effective is the only way to stay in the airports, as where TSA is guaranteed.

One of the most glaring flaws in this structure to me is that the TSA is self regulating. TSA has the task to give themselves their own rules which creates a conflict of interest. The TSA gets to choose what is and is not allowed on airplanes, what technology and screening procedures are used, all while being the same organization who implement the searches! With private screeners we could hold each company accountable, decrease operating costs, and most importantly increase security! While federal oversight is unquestionably important in aviation the security itself could be handled much better by the private sector.

Jacob C. Maichel is a Graduate Assistant at the Gwartney Institute and an MBA student at Ottawa University