"March 14, 2011 - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a letter to Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL) that confirms the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has used faulty data and withheld information when evaluating and comparing the costs of the all-federal screening model and an alternative federal-private screening program. "

""And that still doesn’t account for various other ignored factors, including the cost taxpayers incur from TSA’s high attrition rate and the full cost of TSA’s bloated and unnecessary bureaucratic overhead. "I am investigating the full cost differential between the two screening models, and I believe the federal-private program model will prove to be less expensive and provide the best model for U.S. aviation security,” Mica said."

http://avstop.com/march_2011/tsa_cooked_the_books_on_costs_federal_vs_private_screening.htm

So instead of government employed goons hassling us, it will be private sector ones?

Better hurry before they unionize.

No surprise.
Do you expect the DMV-like drones to keep you safe?

In many ways this will be a better goal to shoot for. The government has made this whole thing a charade of "security theater."

I firmly believe the private sector with some governmental oversight will do a vastly better job and for far less money.

Let's face it, the government doesn't do anything very well, at all.

TSA a Bush bureacracy

Difference being the latter can actually be fired and their company go out of business...

Better be careful what you wish for. The privitization of jails & prisons shows what can (& will) happen when you allow the almighty dollar to trump all else.
You think the TSA abuses are bad now? Just wait until the shareholders are running the show.

More like a Teddy Kennedy bureaucracy that Bush acceded to.

Last time I checked prisons weren't an "optional destination."

How many people have heard proclaim they will never fly again because of TSA abuses? You think the shareholders want that attitude to prevail?

I don't think you thought your argument through very well.

Not suprising. I bet you can say that about any government agency compared to a private agency. A private non union organitzation could run any business cheaper than a government controlled unionized organization.

Doesn't suprise me.

The TSA will still be in charge of the SOP. The AIT and those pat-downs will be still in place. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual.

That may be true but, the TSA has no incentive to behave professionally or even with a modicum of decency. Private workers beholden to supervisors who are, in turn, beholden to shareholders do. As it stands now when you have a complaint about airport security the only recourse you have is "don't fly" and the government couldn't care less, it's not their profits shrinking. Private companies, usually, take a much more personal view of the money walking out the door.

Further, the private companies will probably have more incentive to review new security policies for a "intrusuion:safety" cost/benefit analysis instead of just implementing the lastest damn fool and costly idea that someone above them had. They will also be a much louder voice of dissent to the government than the average Joe Six Pack.

So far, it's mostly conjecture. We won't know what it looks like until it's common place again. I, personally, have a tremendous amount more faith in the free market (particularly when it comes to providing their own security) than I do the Fed.gov.

I'll take private thugs over government ones any old day of the week.

eh just remember to follow the money:

http://www.americablog.com/2011/03/top-recipient-of-privatized-airport.html

not saying for or against but being a politician... money talks

Also, TSA is more likely to police the private companies it works with then police itself.

A) The number of people who actually have the option of not flying & furthermore exercise that option are few & far between. Enough not to matter. In the modern world, airline travel is an unavoidable necessity. Which is exactly the reason the TSA can go so far with nothing much more coming out of it other than bitching & whining.

B) The airlines are govt subsidized & safety-netted. Pretending they're active players in the free market is ludicrous.

C) I'd say the same to you regarding ill-conceived arguments.

I know a great many more who choose not to fly for vacations and such than I know who must fly for work or familial obligations. The reason the TSA "can go so far" is that there isn't anyone who is interested in making their "customers" more happy, you know, like shareholders.

To pretend that because the airlines are subsidized that there is no reason to make as much money as possible is just, plain silly. I mean, since they're subsidized and money is no issue why can't we all just fly for free? Apparently, we're paying for it anyway. All industries which are subsidized are still incentivised to make as much money as they can by, you know, shareholders.

You mean like it was from the start of the airline industry until the creation of the TSA only a few years ago?

Oooh, scary almighty dollar. Much better to have unelected, unaccountable, and uninterested government bureaucrats handle security.

Didn't an internal audit of the TSA show something like 75% of handguns were allowed past 'security'? I wonder if a private org would do any worse?