A new bill introduced in the US Senate seeks to abolish the TSA and privatize airport security. But before we “throw the baby out with the bathwater” couldn’t we start by ending the liquid ban?
US Senators Introduce Bill To Privatize Airport Security, Abolish TSA
One Mile At A Time notes that a new bill introduced by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) called the Abolish the TSA Act, which seeks to eliminate the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Per the authors, the objective is to:
- dissolve the “bloated and ineffective organization”
- allow America’s airports to “compete to provide the safest, most efficient, and least intrusive security measures, under a new Office of Aviation Security Oversight”
Senator Lee argues this will promote safety:
“The TSA has not only intruded into the privacy and personal space of most Americans, it has also repeatedly failed tests to find weapons and explosives. Our bill privatizes security functions at American airports under the eye of an Office of Aviation Security Oversight, bringing this bureaucratic behemoth to a welcome end. American families can travel safely without feeling the hands of an army of federal employees.”
Senator Tuberville argues this is necessary to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse:
“The TSA is an inefficient, bureaucratic mess that infringes on Americans’ freedoms. It’s a bloated agency—riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars—that has led to unnecessary delays, invasive pat downs and bag checks, and frustration for travelers. We need to focus on more efficient and effective methods to protect our country without sacrificing the liberties and freedoms of American citizens. The TSA should be eliminated and replaced with privatized solutions that are more targeted, streamlined, and where appropriate, accountable to limited government oversight.”
My Thoughts On Priviating The TSA
I’ve come a long way since the inception of the TSA from being a harsh skeptic (mostly on civil liberties grounds concerning early iterations of the full-body scanner) to appreciating how the agency has become more efficient, more friendly, and in essence, accepting of the tradeoff of inconvenience in an era in which there are more guns than people in a country of over 340 million people.
I think government agencies, like private companies, can evolve in at least two ways: over time, there can be competencies gained, lessons learned, and efficiencies maximized…or there can be resistance to change, lack of innovation, and perpetuation of poor customer service.
Prior to 9/11 I was not attuned to aviation security, but it is my understanding that private contractors had great trouble maintaining staff and of course, the system was not nearly as secure as it is today (and of course today it is still not fail-safe by any means).
As One Mile At A Time rightly notes, can you imagine if airport security was privatized and 90% of workers were laid off during the pandemic? Can you imagine how bad it would have been once travel roared back?
It’s not that I am against privatization: rather, I’m for efficiency and sometimes that is best accomplished by private actors and sometimes that is best accomplished by government, especially when a function is necessary. It’s fair to argue that some TSA agents are overpaid for the work they do, but removing the profit motive from airport security has promoted longevity and generally led to a very smooth security experience at airports large and small. That promotes efficiency and minimizes turnover that ends up costing even more in the long run.
Most importantly, we’ve had no hijacking or terrorist attack using commercial airlines in nearly 25 years. That’s no minor accomplishment.
How About We End The Liquid Ban Now?
Here’s a suggestion: instead of dismantling the whole system, how about we address pressure points within the current framework? For example, I propose eliminating immediately the liquid ban.
Let that serve as an experiment that would promote the objectives of Lee and Tuberville by streamlining security and also giving travelers more choice (airport concessionaires make a killing on bottled water…it’s ridiculous).
The liquid ban dates back to 2006 and while there is always some level of threat that liquids could be mixed for nefarious purposes, my own cost/benefit analysis weighs heavily on allowing liquids through checkpoints.
What if we start there and see how it goes?
CONCLUSION
It’s often said the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don’t know. The reality of the TSA reflects the evil present in this world…but I’m not at all convinced that the alternative will lead to better outcomes or even better customer service if profit becomes the motive for airport security.
I appreciate efforts to hold the TSA accountable and am not inherently opposed to privatization; I just don’t think it makes sense if the right balance of security and efficiency is truly what we are after.
Before we break the system that has been carefully built over the last 20 years, maybe we start by ending the liquid ban and see if that helps?
image: TSA
The TSA should be eliminated and its functions sent back to the FAA. The screening at airports can be done by airport and/or airline hired contractors and the DOT/FAA (with TSA HQ) can go back to regulating the screening process. Hopefully, we also see the eventual elimination of DHS and terminate the job of DHS Barbie. [DHS functions and agencies can go back to being organized in the same way as in 2000.]
…. and I say that even as I think Lee and even more so Tuberville are about as stupid as stupid gets for a Senator.
“….. can you imagine if airport security was privatized and 90% of workers were laid off during the pandemic?”
The government response to the pandemic provided lots of money for companies to retain employees. While that could have been done better, where there is a will and sufficient brains there is a way to mitigate for that concern.
There were places that happened and there was chaos for over a year once things began to return to normal, I’m thinking LHR in particular where people refused to return because they had found better paid jobs in places like Lidl instead where they were also valued.
“removing the profit motive from airport security has promoted longevity and generally led to a very smooth security experience at airports large and small.”
That’s simply not true. TSA had a terrible time hiring and retaining employees prior to and during the pandemic. It’s only very recently, after handing out raises of up to 40%, that this has been addressed.
Meanwhile, LAX (TSA) screening doesn’t outperform SFO (private). And US screening doesn’t outperform screening in Canada or Europe, either.
Whether government or private, screening and regulation of security standards shouldn’t be housed in the same entity. TSA shouldn’t do both. If you want TSA performing the screening, move regulation of the activity to a different agency. Don’t have TSA regulate itself, which is a recipe for the lack of accountability we’ve had there for decades.
Hear, hear.
More sensible would be to eliminate the shoes nonsense – I’m not aware of any country apart from the USA still doing that as the explosives can be picked up on the scanners.
The liquid ban should stay until the new scanners are installed – but that’s not too big a deal and timelines could be mandated.
But nothing will happen when the TSA, along with all other federal agencies, remains unaccountable so, IMHO, privatisation is the only route.
Agreed about the shoes. I simply don’t buy the fact that taking shoes off keeps us safe supposedly, when other countries that don’t have the same requirements haven’t had any recent hijackings either.
But I believe liquids rules must be eliminated in order to achieve a lasting improvement.
Same goes for the passenger ID/identification checks,
I fly dozens of flights a year where neither the airlines nor governments ask me for ID as a passenger. It goes just fine, and planes are not falling out of the sky because of it.
A cost benefit analysis of not having a liquid ban? That would mean that a life has a value. If a low amount, like $75,000 then the cost benefit analysis would be for allowing liquids. However, if it’s valued at $50M, the conclusion might change.
It’s a tough situation because there are millions and millions of cattle passing through, I mean, people. Nearly all, way more than 99.9% are fine and no threat. However a lot of damage can be done by 19 hijackers, killing thousands in NYC, Washington, Afghanistan and costing trillions.
To me, the liquid ban is not too serious. On the other hand, gasoline doesn’t look like water.
I’m a reluctant fan of the TSA. Does the agency need reform to address the culture of racism and sexism? Absolutely. Nonetheless it functions and we have zero guarantees that any private entity will do better? How are those for-profit prisons doing?
It’s absolutely unsurprising that Tuberville initiated this proposal. We’re talking about the guy who’s so stupid that he literally couldn’t name the three branches of government while running for the senate. Look it up.
The next obvious pressure point, the terrible international arrivals experience.
I agree. Abolish all forms of inbound immigration control as it’s just too……inconvenient
No, just make it EFFICIENT. For example, have you been to Singapore? And, if you insist on keeping manned checks, at least get the damned staffing level right!
The liquid ban is well worth the inconvenience if it prevents one incident. While not the cause, we seem to forget 9/11 too easily.
As for the cost of water, almost every airport now has bottle filling stations for free. And if you are too lazy to carry a bottle, $5 for a bottle of water isn’t not different than a sporting event or concert. People will live.
It’s not just water, first of all. It’s also plenty of other drinks, medications necessary but without a prescription, goodies, among other things. It’s just a waste of money to have to check a bag in when with better screening technology we can take these liquids through with hand luggage.
Not to mention the risks of lost baggage or a handler doing a shoddy job that causes something to break or spill inside.
Dave,
It isn’t that almost every airport has water bottle filling stations – My issue is how often those are cleaned and serviced. Guaranteed its not even up to minimal standards. Additionally, if they can find a gram of cocaine or an ounce of weed in your carry-on, there is absolutely no reason they can’t tell the difference between a bottle of water and Hydrogen peroxide or Isopropyl nitrate – unless they don’t want too.
How many pairs of shoes and bottles of water have they stopped from taking down an aircraft? Zero. Now compare that to how many weapons they have missed in the OIG field tests? 80+% Very efficient!!
Not only should the liquids ban be abolished, the entire TSA and their bureaucratic idiocy be dismantled.
Now now,
we all know that we have to keep the gravy train going for airport vendors. That is the real source of the liquid ban. Crony capitalism
If it were really about safety, no liquids at all would be allowed past the security checkpoint or on the plane. The fact that they are shows that this is not about preventing a repeat of the 2006 plot, but is about enriching certain vendors (who likely lobbied for this)
Better still just eliminate all types of security….I mean, we’ll still make black people and poor people go through it….that’s what you REALLY mean right?
racism like that is why minorities are going to the Republicans. They are sick of your liberal nonsense
No — those who went with self-defeating votes for Trump are primarily the loser male segment that is a minority within the ethnic minority groups. Slowly but surely, they too are having buyer’s remorse from having voted in this clown regime and its horrible circus.
and BS like what you posted further shows they made the correct decision.
More and more people are realizing to have nothing to do with the party of the Klan
Trump & Co are the ones with the loser white supremacist mentality you seem to support nowadays.
What a snowflake you are
” a more targeted, streamlined and where appropriate limited to government oversight ”
Tuberville translated : Congress need not wait in pesky lines be screened. Period. Rules for everyone else as made up on the spot but streamlined for them. And we will give a contract to the next fat cat on the donor list.
I am suspicious. Let’s just eliminate liquid and shoe restrictions first.
Maybe. DOGE can check on their efficiency?
Hey, maybe we can bring back the private contractors that provided airport security at BOS and EWR on 9/11/01! Everything worked perfect on that day!
What could possibly go wrong?
We had private security at most airports before 9/11, and we know how well that worked,,TSA has matured, there are still many who hate America,,,and many more who will with our current clowns in DC,,,leave TSA alone…
the issue was what the FAA let through security. You were allowed to bring those box cutters through.
It wasn’t a security issue, it was an FAA issue
For those of us who worked in aviation/airports in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s when security was privatized, we know it was a joke. It is quite apparent, those attempting to revert back to those days are clueless. History is bound to repeat itself due to those who cannot see the forest through the trees. Initially, I was not thrilled with the TSA but the system has been greatly improved over the past several years. Could there be additional improvements, definitely but the TSA is on the right track. While the liquid ban and taking off shoes (not sure of the continued benefit of this when it only applies to U.S. travel) are a nuisance; minor inconveniences. This is the cost of safe travel in the world we live in today.
Has it not occurred to you that the threats have also evolved since the 2000s? We are more likely to face other challenges like geopolitical crises, plane crashes, cyber attacks, and so on than some science experiment (in the form of liquid explosives) going wrong inflight above 30,000 feet.
I’m all for safety, but there is no security need for either the shoes rule (which doesn’t apply in most countries) or liquids. I mean, what sort of terrorist attack has been prevented by making sure all toiletries are in a plastic bag, and that the bag seals? Also, bad actors can combine small containers in order to make a large hazardous item, can they not? And at a time where we should focus on sustainability in air travel, does the excess waste of disposed items and plastic bags make the situation worse?
There are plenty of ways to keep us safe. The liquids rule is not one of them.
When planes start falling from the skies who would be to blame?
Sadly a lot of this stuff is decided by profits and lobbyists. I wonder how many shops wouldn’t want the ban to end since it helps them to sell more product. And more sales means more money for the airport.
I’ve read stories where airports don’t have the moving walkways because they want people to walk past the stores in order to get more sales.
There might be a good security reason for the ban and one they won’t and shouldn’t talk about but honestly I sure don’t know.
If they’re privatized and become private company employees, then I’d guess they could join unions and actually walk out whenever they want like they do in many European countries. Could be interesting.
Worked for the TSA for just over 5 years at a major airport in the Midwest. I have witnessed a loaded gun identified on an x-ray image at least five times and the passenger was arrested. Many knives confiscated as well. The TSA is not perfect and I did work with a few knuckleheads, but the majority of officers I worked with were dedicated and did a difficult and stressful job as best as they could.
Lee and Tuberville never met a camera they didn’t like. I wish they would grow a spine and do the job they were elected to do.
I don’t care how MAGA one might be, you can’t take anything Tommy Tuberville says seriously, and its a real shame that the Alabama GOP couldn’t come up with someone, anyone, better.
The USA is in the midst of more and more bans here and there; education, healthcare, social security, free speech, etc., even banning people. No way are there going to be fewer bans, but more bans!
All for abolishing the TSA.
Are uniformed TSA employees being sent to play guard at Tesla showrooms and dealerships across the country? I thought I saw a TSA uniform shirt-wearing guy guarding a Tesla space in NYC (on Manhattan) this weekend. If that was part of his work duties as a TSA employee, then that only makes me ever the more eager to see TSA as it is downsized and the screener/guard workforce functions be handled by airport and/or airline hired screeners.
The Tesla showroom at 860 Washington St, New York, NY 10014.