IOPList.Org

MARCH 02, 2021
JUDICIAL WATCH


Nearly 2 Million Airport Workers May Pose Security Threat
as U.S. Studies Cost of Screening Them



Nearly 2 million workers with unescorted access to security restricted areas at airports throughout
the U.S. could pose an “insider threat,” according to a new federal audit, yet the government is still
studying how to effectively curb the risk. Congress has tasked the famously inefficient
Transportation Security Administration (TSA), created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to protect
the nation’s transportation system, with submitting a plan examining the cost and feasibility of
enhanced worker screening measures at American airports, but it seems that the agency cannot
handle the task. The assignment was embedded in a 2018 law, TSA Modernization Act, that aims
to improve the agency’s screening technologies, streamline its passenger screening process and
mandate more rigorous background checks of airport workers, among other things.

A provision of the law requires TSA to produce a study within one year determining the cost and
feasibility of implementing enhanced airport worker inspection measures at all access points between
non-secured and security-restricted areas at a significant number of airports. The screening measures
include the use of equipment, such as walk-through metal detectors and explosives trace detection
equipment to vet all employees, and access controls, such as closed-circuit television cameras and
secure doors. The study is also supposed to include assessments and comparisons of the security
effectiveness and operational efficiency of different screening measures and technologies.
The TSA submitted its findings to several congressional committees at the end of September 2020
and the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), inspected the
information and issued a report trashing the TSA for conducting a faulty analysis.

The TSA determined that enhanced airport worker screening would cost American taxpayers between
$2.9 and $3.6 billion, with ongoing annual costs of $2.5 to $3.1 billion. The estimates include four
possible methods, including the TSA providing screening officers, third-party entities performing the
screening at private industry rates and a combination of both. Congressional investigators found that
the TSA “used incomplete information to assess the feasibility of implementing enhanced airport worker
screening.” For starters, the TSA failed to consider local airport constraints, such as availability of space
for screening operations, that it stated could influence feasibility. The Homeland Security agency’s
assessment also relied on the perspectives of and experiences at large airports, which may not be
applicable to smaller airports, the GAO found. The report diplomatically slams the TSA, stating that its
“inconsistency could be, in part, because the agency does not have formal guidance for staff to follow.”

This is a critical issue because the TSA estimates that more than 1.8 million workers have unescorted
access to security restricted areas of airports nationwide. The employees may wittingly or unwittingly
misuse or allow others to misuse their access to sensitive areas or knowledge of security procedures
to exploit vulnerabilities and potentially cause harm, the GAO report states. “For example, in July 2019,
an aircraft mechanic was charged with willfully attempting to damage an aircraft,” congressional
investigators write. “Additionally, in August 2018, a ground services agent commandeered a small
aircraft, which subsequently crashed.” TSA has tried to curb these types of “insider threats” by
conducting random physical screening of employees at larger airports and requiring most airport
operators to perform random worker screening. Apparently, it is not enough. “The aviation industry
faces a consistent threat posed by workers and other insiders who have used their access privileges
and knowledge to commit criminal acts, such as drug smuggling, gun smuggling, theft, and attempted
suicide bombing,” the GAO report says.

The TSA’s inability to provide Congress with an accurate assessment involving a vital security matter
is hardly surprising. The agency’s transgressions have been well documented since it was created after
the 2001 terrorist attacks to secure transportation by adequately screening luggage, passengers and
properly vetting foreign flight students. Instead, it is best known for its shameful security lapses and
efforts to cover them up. For nearly a decade Judicial Watch has reported extensively—and uncovered
records—involving the TSA’s failure to adequately fulfill its mission. This includes missing guns and
bombs during covert exercises known as “red team tests,” TSA agents literally sleeping on the job and
stealing from passengers, the failure to properly screen luggage and a number of other violations that
have risked the nation’s safety. Records obtained by Judicial Watch a few years ago show hundreds of
badges that allow agents to access secure areas of airports went missing along with uniforms and
other devices used to control entry. In 2018  a bipartisan congressional investigation found that
persistent misconduct by TSA managers often goes unpunished and whistleblowers who report it as
well as airport safety risks are penalized by senior officials.