On Sunday, March 22, passengers waited in line for five hours or more at Atlanta airport to get through security checkpoints.
But in Orlando, Florida – just a few hours south – security lines averaged about 30 minutes or less.
How can passengers at two major airports have such dramatically different experiences? Simple: Orlando airport has effectively privatized security checkpoints, while Atlanta uses government employees who work for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). As airports across the country struggle with hours-long TSA lines during the current government shutdown, the Trump administration should push for nationwide privatization.
The mess in Atlanta is not unique. At airports across the country, crazy TSA lines are causing missed flights and canceled routes. TSA screeners don’t show up for work because they can’t get paid until Congress funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But Democrats refuse to do that unless the Trump administration agrees to dramatic changes in its immigration enforcement policies. The Democrats’ calculation is that enough public suffering will force President Donald Trump to agree to their demands.
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But Orlando airport shows that passengers don’t have to suffer at all.
The airport is one of twenty airports that have participated in the TSA’s Screening Partnership Program. Some of the others include San Francisco’s main airport and the airport in Kansas City. Essentially, these transit hubs contract with private companies that handle the security process. The companies operate under federal supervision and comply with all TSA regulations, so they keep flyers completely safe. But because they’re not government-run, they also keep the lines moving and customers happy.
Rarely is the contrast between companies and bureaucracies so great. Even in a time of great disruption, you get the job done. The other is widely hated even in normal times. The private companies have more flexibility and also more pressure to deliver results. They are accountable to shareholders and owners, and if they don’t do their job properly, an airport can replace them.
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But the TSA doesn’t really answer to anyone. Although it is taxpayer funded, taxpayers exercise exactly zero control over its operations. The TSA also has no competition. There is no second government agency that can do its job. If it fails to meet its basic responsibilities, nothing will happen. For bureaucracies, it’s always business as usual, even if that’s objectively awful.
Why don’t more airports take the clearly superior private route? At this time, airport operators must elect to participate in the Screening Partnership Program. That’s where the Trump administration should step in. It should issue new rules that make the private program the default option, if not the only option. Airports should not avoid privatization.
Will nationwide privatization end the current crisis? Probably not. It would likely take months, if not longer, to scale up private security services at every major airport in the country. But that means that sooner or later the Trump administration will have to push for change. By starting the process now, it can be completed before the end of the year.
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This will certainly not be the last time that selfish politicians hold travelers hostage in their attempt to extract concessions. If airport security were privatized at every airport, politicians would have far fewer opportunities to hurt families trying to make their flights. That’s a good thing, regardless of which party has power in DC
The Democrats’ calculation is that enough public suffering will force President Donald Trump to agree to their demands.
But it is even better to get the Americans used to privatization. The federal government is already trying to do too much, and with few exceptions, it is doing it poorly. Everyone knows it, even those who want DC to do more. Instead of growing a government that simply doesn’t work, we need to empower private companies that need to compete and deliver results.
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It’s not just about airport security. Air traffic control would also benefit from privatization, making air travel safer through technological upgrades. And imagine if we let companies play a bigger role in wellness programs, workforce training, and other government initiatives that routinely fall short. Maybe then we can actually help vulnerable Americans climb the ladder of opportunity, instead of the current system that too often cuts off the bottom rung.
No doubt the government’s defenders will shout angrily at the mention of such a reform. Privatization is public enemy No. 1 for the government public. But ask the passengers who just missed their flight in Atlanta how that works out. Then ask the passengers who have been through Orlando and are now relaxing by the pool.
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