Lawmakers in Atlanta are considering a proposal that would avoid another airport security meltdown like the one that roiled the United States during the partial government shutdown in March and April.
City officials are examining whether to privatize security operations at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), the busiest hub in the nation and in the world.
Atlanta City Councilman Byron Amos has proposed a 90-day feasibility study to City Hall, during which officials would research potential participation in TSA's Screening Partnership Program, according to a CBS News report.
The little-known program allows airports to offload security screening operations to private contractors with oversight from the TSA.
It gained awareness during the last shutdown because the handful of U.S. airports that participate in the program notably had shorter wait times at checkpoints than those facilities with traditional TSA officers, who were working without a paycheck due to the lapse in federal funding.
Atlanta, on the other hand, regularly had security lines that snaked up to three hours long during the shutdown in March and April.
"The number one thing about this program is it is not tied to a TSA budget that can be caught up in a government shutdown," Amos, who is a former airport security worker himself, told CBS News.
The Trump administration has proposed going a step farther by cutting the agency’s workforce by 4,500 employees and privatizing all TSA operations at small airports across the country. But US airlines have so far beeen ralling against that wide-sweeping action.
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