Complain about a product or service

TSA Adds Security Checks for Airport Employees

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 23, 2007

Airline Safety • American Cancels More Fights For Safety Checks • Key Lawmaker Wants FAA 'Housecleaning' • FAA To Review All Airline Maintenance Procedures • Southwest Grounds 41 Airplanes, Suspends Three Workers • Problems Found With Wing Bolts On Four U.S. Planes • TSA Adds Security Checks for Airport Employees • FAA Says Many U.S. Airports Short On Safety • New Device Finds Illegal Cellphones on Airplanes • Laptop Fires Worry Airline Safety Regulators • New System Reduces Risk of Runway Collision • Study Warns Cell Phones Could Cause Airliner Crash • Inspector General Hits Outsourced Airline Maintenance • Air Controllers Cite Close Calls In Los Angeles • Air Controllers Warn Equipment Glitch Affects Safety • Report Questions Airline Safety • Cell Phones on Planes - Survey Warns of Air Rage • Air Travel Still Risky, Pilots Warn • Airlines Outsourcing More Maintenance • Pilots Blast Airport Security

No one is exempt from airport security searches anymore.

Beginning next week, all of the 55,000+ workers at Atlanta's Hartfield–Jackson International Airport will be subject to random searches by the Tranportation Security Administration (TSA). The program will eventually expand to 450 airports, according to the agency.

Currently, most of the workers in the Atlanta airport, and other major air gateways, are not required to pass through the same security lines as airline passengers.

The latest TSA program is designed to find firearms and explosives -- and to eliminate the previous hands-off treatment accorded airport workers, their vehicles, and their packages.

Roving TSA workers will make the random searches.

Although the Atlanta airport ranks just ahead of Chicago's O'Hare as the busiest in the country, the TSA insists its new rules will not cause any additional flight delays.

The random-inspection program has already been added to security procedures at other airports without significant impact on operations, the TSA said.

Officials of both the Atlanta airport and airlines based there praised the program for toughening security awareness but expressed concern about potential delays that might result.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |