News

TSA Expands Private Screening to 3 More US Airports

The Department of Homeland Security has picked the first three airports that will swap federal Transportation Security Administration screeners for private contractors under a newly expanded program called TSA Gold+. Tampa International Airport (TPA), Charleston International Airport (CHS) and Des Moines International Airport (DSM) are set to transition in phases, with Des Moines going first in January 2027, followed by Charleston in February 2027 and Tampa in May 2027, according to an internal TSA email to the American Federation of Government Employees cited by CBS News.

TSA Gold+ builds on the Screening Partnership Program, a framework created in 2004 that already lets airports use vetted private screeners under federal oversight. At least 20 U.S. airports operate under that program today, including San Francisco International and Kansas City International, the two largest, according to The Points Guy. Gold+ goes further, letting contractors also manage the screening technology at the checkpoint rather than just staffing it, per CBS News.

Officials frame the expansion partly as insurance against staffing chaos. TSA officers are federal employees who go unpaid during a government shutdown, and this spring's shutdown produced multi-hour security-line delays at some hubs, The Points Guy reported. Because contractor-run checkpoints aren't funded through federal appropriations, backers argue they're less exposed to that kind of disruption. Tampa officials cited that same disruption risk, along with more flexibility to adopt newer screening technology, as reasons for opting in. David Cummins, the Trump administration's nominee to lead TSA, has separately argued the shift makes security less vulnerable to political dysfunction in Washington.

Not everyone agrees it's a clean upgrade. At a Capitol Hill hearing, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., raised accountability concerns, arguing that private contractors ultimately answer to their bottom line rather than to the flying public. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 47,000 transportation security officers across 400 airports, opposes the expansion and has linked it to a fiscal 2027 budget proposal that would cut 2,462 TSO positions, according to CBS News. The union has also argued that relying on contractors risks losing accountability lessons drawn from the 9/11 attacks, per The Points Guy's reporting.

What this means for remote workers and nomads

For travelers who've sat through a shutdown-driven security meltdown at a major hub, Gold+'s pitch is direct: contractor-staffed checkpoints aren't exposed to the funding lapses that leave federal screeners working without pay. If the model scales past these three pilot airports, that's a real variable removed for nomads routing through hub airports on tight connections during the next budget standoff — something we've built contingency time for in our own digital nomad starter kit planning.

But the upside is theoretical for now. None of the three airports go live before January 2027, so there's no near-term relief, and the accountability question critics are raising — whether a contractor answering to a client airport enforces security standards as consistently as a federal agency does — is a legitimate open debate, not a settled one. Nothing is expected to change at the checkpoint itself in the meantime: core rules like the 3-1-1 liquids limit are expected to apply everywhere Gold+ eventually lands, contractor-run or not. Treat this as a pilot worth tracking, not a reason to expect calmer security lines anytime soon.