The Transportation Security Administration has launched a new airport security initiative called TSA Gold+. While it may sound like a new version of TSA PreCheck or a premium airport membership program, it’s not.
The new program, which was announced this week, could significantly expand the role of private companies involved in screening passengers at U.S. airports.
“As TSA approaches its 25th anniversary, rising travel volumes, evolving threats, and funding challenges present an opportunity to re-imagine aviation security,” according to the TSA Gold+ website.
The timing of the new initiative comes after a tumultuous year of government shutdowns, which led to long lines and severe delays caused by understaffing at security checkpoints.
Here’s what to know about TSA Gold+ and whether it will affect your summer travel plans.
What exactly is TSA Gold+?
TSA Gold+ is not a traveler membership program like TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or CLEAR Plus.
The TSA Gold+ program is “a new public-private partnership aimed at modernizing aviation security at select airports across the United States,” according to its website.
The Screening Partnership Program (SPP) currently contracts with private companies at 20 U.S. airports to conduct security screening of air travelers in accordance with TSA guidelines. The White House’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal would require approximately 250 of the nation’s smallest airports to enroll in the program.
The idea behind TSA Gold+ is to expand the SPP and shift more responsibility to private companies, which would manage a workforce and screening technology to streamline passenger screenings and lower federal costs.
Airports can opt in to TSA Gold+ to specify their specific security screening needs with private industry partners who will provide the staffing, screening equipment and maintenance upgrades. It won’t cost passengers or the taxpayer anything extra.
During a congressional hearing last month, TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill suggested that airports use private TSA screening to avoid widespread travel disruptions and funding lapses.
“Until recently, TSA employees had missed nearly 1 billion in paychecks this fiscal year,” McNeill said during the April 16 hearing. “In contrast, SPP screeners have not yet missed a paycheck.”
However, not everyone is in favor of the new public-private partnership. Opponents of the new program include the Association of Federal Government Employees, a union that represents TSA agents, which argues that private companies will prioritize profit over the safety of the more than 2 million passengers who go through TSA screening every day.
“If you’re old enough to have lived through the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, you know what happened at airports before the government and Congress decided to federalize airport security,” the group said in a news release. “It’s hard to imagine us going back to those days now, but privatization could compromise security as contracts usually go to the lowest bidder. The same companies that failed us on 9/11 are now under different names and are looking to get a share of the profitable pie.”
What does TSA Gold+ mean for your summer travel plans?
For passengers, the airport screening experience likely won’t change immediately. At airports that opt in to TSA Gold+ program, passengers may notice that screening officers employed by a private company would wear a uniform with the company name, rather than a TSA uniform.
But according to the TSA, security rules and standards will remain in place, regardless of who operates the checkpoints.
