“Again, it’s because you can fire a bad contractor, but you can’t fire the government. I think TSA stands for Thousands Standing Around.” -John Stossel
*****
First off, bravo to Dick Roehm for at least taking a realistic approach to security at his airport. If they cannot depend upon the TSA to provide good security, along with good customer service and satisfaction, then I say go private and demand those things via a well written contract. Europe, along with Israel, has been doing this awhile, and to me, the TSA along with government is a terrible security apparatus to use.
As for Jim McGarvey, stop drinking the kool aid that the contractor haters have been serving you, and listen to reason. Better yet, just read the quote up top, and tell me how with the current system in place, that you can actually fire the TSA for doing a poor job? Besides, the argument that the town will lose jobs when they go private is stupid. Who do you think private companies will hire for work locally?
The other thing that bothers me about Jim’s assessment is the idea that making a profit is evil or something? Profit is what drives a company and it’s employees to be competitive and do a good job in order to maintain the contract. If they suck at what they are doing, or try to rip off the airport, the airport authority just ends the contract and goes with someone that can do a better job. And hey, if the AA writes up a good contract and actually monitors the quality of the contract, then they can actually get a good value for the dollar. The company providing the service also knows what it has to do in order to maintain the contract when you have that kind of a system. Like Stossel said, you can fire a bad contractor, but you can’t fire the government. –Matt
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Security breach raises questions about government airport screening
January 13, 2010
By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer
A passenger getting through security at Gallatin Field with a gun, coupled with ongoing complaints about how passengers are treated at checkpoints, is trying the patience of the head of the local airport authority.
Now, Dick Roehm is raising the prospect turning to a private company to handle security at the airport.
On the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, Transportation Security Administration screeners at Gallatin Field inadvertently allowed a man with a firearm in his carry-on bag through security, according to a TSA statement released Wednesday.
While in the boarding area, the unidentified man realized he had the gun and turned himself into TSA officials. In response, TSA rescreened every passenger at the airport, including passengers on a Horizon Air flight that had left the gate but not yet taken off, delaying three flights for more than an hour, said Roehm, who was briefed on the incident.
The gun was turned over to local law enforcement and the passenger was allowed to continue on the flight, TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said in a written statement.