The T.S.A. Abruptly Scraps Its New Private-Security Model

In May, the Transportation Security Administration announced a new model for privatizing airport security screenings. On Monday, it abruptly scrapped the program.

With a new leader in charge, the T.S.A. announced that it had discontinued its Gold+ program, a private-screening model that would have relied on private contractors to staff checkpoints and more quickly install newer technology at airports. The same day, Tampa International Airport, the largest of the three airports that had opted in to the initiative, said it had decided to stick with T.S.A. agents after a monthslong review of the program.

The T.S.A. will instead move toward what it called an “evolved” version of the Screening Partnership Program, an existing program through which 20 U.S. airports, including San Francisco International, use private security screeners rather than federal workers. Few details are known about what this evolved program will look like and why Gold+ was discontinued.

“At this point, there are more questions than answers,” said Keith Jeffries, a vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and a former T.S.A. federal security director at Los Angeles International Airport.

David P. Cummins, who was confirmed as the agency’s new administrator on Aug. 7, announced the shift as part of a “new strategic vision” aimed at modernizing the agency. Stated priorities include enhancing the T.S.A. PreCheck program, countering drone threats and speeding up the process of acquiring new technology.

Initially, officials at Tampa International Airport had expressed optimism about the Gold+ program, saying that it represented an opportunity for “modernization, innovation and operational resilience.”

In a news release on Monday, though, airport officials said they had conducted an extensive review of the program over several months, with the goal of preventing disruptions from government shutdowns and improving access to the latest screening technology.

Ultimately, Tampa decided to keep using existing federal T.S.A. officers for checkpoint screening operations. Emily Nipps, a spokeswoman for the airport, said the decision was unrelated to the T.S.A.’s announcement that it was canceling the program.

Two other airports — Charleston International and Des Moines International — had the program pulled away from them after signing on. Both airports confirmed they are no longer moving forward with the program, as it no longer exists.

Elliott Summey, the chief executive of Charleston’s airport, said it would evaluate the evolved Screening Partnership Program before making a decision about what would work best for its needs. A spokeswoman for the Des Moines airport did not respond to questions regarding whether the airport was still considering privatization through the new model.

Caleb Harmon, a former T.S.A. officer who first reported the Tampa announcement in his newsletter Gate Access, called the agency’s abrupt abandonment of Gold+ a “red flag.”

“To deem an initiative as the future of aviation security, and ultimately change course at the drop of a dime, raises concerns,” Mr. Harmon said, adding that the move signaled that the T.S.A. had announced the program prematurely, or that it had conducted insufficient research to implement it.

Under the Gold+ program, private contractors would have provided the full scope of screening services, technology and maintenance. Previous implementations of the Screening Partnership Program, like in San Francisco, had only covered staffing.

It is unclear how the new version of the program will differ from Gold+, which was also billed as an evolution of the older partnership program. The T.S.A. did not respond to questions about why Gold+ was rolled back, what will be different about the evolved partnership program and if there is a timeline for its implementation.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 47,000 T.S.A. agents across the country, said the Gold+ proposal would have been dangerous for the flying public and sued the agency on Aug. 5 to learn more about it. The union said it found out the program existed “by accident” after a T.S.A.-branded briefing flier was found at Orlando International Airport and shared with the media.

Privatization is an explicit goal of the T.S.A., as its 2027 proposed budget shows. The agency intends to spend an extra $477 million to allow smaller airports to join the Screening Partnership Program, according to the budget, which also calls for eliminating more than 4,300 of the T.S.A.’s roughly 50,000 agents.

In the wake of recent government shutdowns, which left T.S.A. agents unpaid for months and led to long lines, airport officials said they hoped the program would reduce the risk of disruptions.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world’s busiest airport, conducted an independent study in recent months to evaluate whether the airport should privatize screening, though the findings have not been shared with the public.

Airport officials declined to provide an update on the study and how the T.S.A.’s announcement might affect its decision making. During the last shutdown, some travelers spent as much as four hours in Atlanta’s T.S.A. line.