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Atlanta Airport Study Rejects Privatizing Security Screeners, Urges Congress to Pay TSA Workers
A Department of Aviation study recommends keeping federal TSA screeners at Hartsfield-Jackson rather than hiring a private contractor, concluding that privatization would not solve the pay disruptions that caused long lines during the 2026 shutdown. City officials and the study's sponsor say the findings put the responsibility on Congress to fund and respect the workforce.
Atlanta's airport will keep its federal security screeners. A Department of Aviation study presented Monday to the City Council's Transportation Committee recommends that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remain in the federal Transportation Security Administration system rather than join the TSA's Screening Partnership Program, which lets private companies take over passenger and baggage screening under federal oversight.
The review was ordered in May, weeks after TSA employees at airports nationwide were required to work without pay during the 2026 partial federal government shutdown. At Hartsfield-Jackson, the resulting wave of employee callouts contributed to long security lines and flight cancellations, prompting City Council member Byron Amos to sponsor the resolution requesting the analysis.
Amos said the study confirmed what workers and travelers already understood. "The findings show what we already know. This issue is not the TSA workers. The issue is the leadership of our congress, who have failed to treat our TSA workers with respect and properly ensure they're able to get paid during the government shutdown," he said.
The study weighed cost, the effect on current TSA employees, operational risks and the system's resilience during a federal shutdown. It also examined airports already using the private-screening model and international screening practices. Among its conclusions: private screeners might not be paid during an extended shutdown if their contractor could not finance payroll, meaning privatization could reproduce the very disruption that prompted the review.
Dr. Tom Nissalke, the airport's assistant general manager, said the analysis found no pressing reason to change course. "When you look at the most fundamental issues of screening, whether it's passengers or bags, right now there are no chronic issues with screening quality, equipment, outages, scheduling, or other aspects of the screening operation," Nissalke said. "So we believe there's no compelling need to adopt the SPP model."
Airport General Manager Ricky Smith told the committee that city leadership is aligned. "What he's going to present to you is a conclusion to not privatize security checkpoint management. The mayor agrees with that, the COO agrees with that. We feel it's the right recommendation," Smith said.
Scale also factored into the recommendation. According to the study, just 20 of the nation's 516 commercial airports use the private-screening program. The largest of them, San Francisco International Airport, screens roughly half as many passengers as Hartsfield-Jackson, leaving no comparable hub to judge how the model would perform at the world's busiest airport.
For Amos, the report is also a message to Washington. "It has never been about the TSA workers. One thing this paper does is it tells congress 'Hey, you need to make sure you do a better job ensuring aviation is taken care of,'" he said.
The recommendation now heads to the full City Council, where members are expected to formally accept the findings. For the thousands of TSA employees who staff Hartsfield-Jackson's checkpoints and the millions of travelers who pass through them each year, the study's conclusion means the federal workforce stays in place â and the pressure over pay and staffing shifts back to Congress.