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Tampa International Airport will privatize most Transportation Security Administration operations just months after President Donald Trump unveiled a 2027 budget proposal that called for handing more airport security over to private companies.
In a statement to CNN on Monday, Tampa International Airport said it “opted in” to the TSA Gold+ program, a new public/private partnership screening program. TSA will still have regulatory oversight of the airport’s screening operations, and the checkpoints will have to follow TSA rules, but the employees will be hired and security equipment managed by a company instead of the federal government.
“TSA looks forward to working closely with our airport partners to implement enhancements that will benefit everyone who travels through a TSA Gold+ airport,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday.
Participation in the new program is voluntary and requires airports to apply.
“TPA’s decision to join TSA Gold+ reflects the Airport’s strong commitment to modernization, innovation, and operational resilience in aviation security,” the airport told CNN. “The change to privatization not only reduces disruption risks caused by lapses in federal appropriations or government shutdowns but also allows greater flexibility in exploring new screening checkpoint infrastructure and technology to enhance the customer experience.”
The news was first reported by aviation newsletter Gate Access.
The change is targeted for May 31, 2027, a TSA employee in Tampa said they were told during a town hall Monday led by Adam Stahl, acting TSA deputy administrator. Many now face the difficult choice of applying to work at the private contractor, finding other government jobs, transferring to another airport, resigning or taking retirement earlier than they might have planned.
“Some employees were sad, some were crying and others were visibly upset,” the staffer said, noting that workers were told in May that the airport had put in an application for the TSA Gold+ program. “Others put in their retirement paperwork right away.”
TSA officers in Tampa will get the first right of refusal for jobs when a private security vendor is selected, the employee was told.
The latest White House budget proposal, released in April, would require small airports to enroll in TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, under which TSA pays for private screeners. The administration says the move would save $52 million and “begin reform of a troubled Federal agency.”
The Gold+ program expands upon an existing program that has been used by a handful of airports featuring privatized screening by also allowing them to manage the screening technology.
Des Moines International Airport is “exploring” privatizing airport security in their new terminal under the TSA Gold+ program, the airport said in a statement.
“TSA Gold+ aligns well with our primary goal which is to make travel EASY,” said Brian Mulcahy, Des Moines Airport Authority CEO. “Travelers would continue to experience the same professional, secure screening process they’re accustomed to, but with newer technology that can help move people through the checkpoint more efficiently.”
There are 20 airports in the United States that have private companies operating the security checkpoints supervised by the TSA under the Screening Partnership Program. San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Orlando Sanford and 17 smaller airports participate.
Privatizing TSA airport screening became a talking point among lawmakers and the president over the past year after government shutdowns disrupted air travel. When TSA employees weren’t being paid some didn’t come to work, leaving some travelers stuck in hours-long lines at airports.
Privatization has been a major concern for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 47,000 TSA officers nationwide. The union vowed to fight the shift, saying it could jeopardize safety.
“Make no mistake – this is a major departure and step backwards from the aviation screening security system that Congress created in the wake of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 and the deadly bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988,” Everett Kelley, AFGE’s national president, said in a statement. “Changes of this magnitude should not be made behind closed doors without the input of Congress, the flying public, the local airport authorities, and TSA employees themselves.”
TSA told AFGE that the Charleston, South Carolina, airport also intends to join TSA Gold+ next year, the union said. CNN has reached out to the airport for more information.
Union leaders said in a March news conference that the administration was trying to use the chaos that erupted at airports during the shutdown to show that TSA is in “mission failure.”
“It’s very important that people understand what privatization is,” Johnny Jones, secretary treasurer for AFGE TSA Council 100, said at the news conference. “It has nothing to do with your security or your safety. It has everything to do with somebody making a profit.”
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