![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Airport-security-line-by-ChainGangPictures-via-iStock-for-WMNF-News-2.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh, PA USA – August 14, 2021: Pittsburgh, Empty Pittsburgh International Airport TSA Entry Line During Last Months of Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh, PA USA – August 14, 2021: Pittsburgh, Empty Pittsburgh International Airport TSA Entry Line During Last Months of Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis<\/p>\n
Tampa International Airport (TPA) is one of 20 national airports that have opted into the new Transportation Security Administration\u2019s\u00a0 new TSA Gold + program proposed by the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Security screenings, checkpoints and the technology itself would be taken over by private contractors, and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union is trying to stop it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AFGE Local 556 President Chris Finlay has worked for TSA for 18 years, and has gone through privatization efforts in the Orlando Sanford International Airport over a decade ago. Travelers safety will not be the private contractors concern, according to Finlay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cA private company, first is \u2026 going to be concerned with the bottom line, the profit margins,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are in it for the contract, they are in it for the money, they won\u2019t do it out of the kindness in their hearts.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finlay believes Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) will see changes in pay and cost of living if they decide to take the new private contractor\u2019s job offer. He said his experience played out very similarly to what local TSA employees will go through in the following months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got my offer, it was less time off, less vacation time, the 401(k) was not as good as the TSP, the insurance would cost me way more than I paid at that time,\u201d Finlay said. \u201cAnd we know insurance prices haven\u2019t gone down; they\u2019ve only gone up, exponentially since 2014.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The current administration\u2019s fiscal plan for 2027 proposes to eliminate 8,400 TSO positions, and 4,500 positions to be replaced by private contractor employees, according to a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TPA employees were confused by the sudden decision, as it was not a bo Finlay said. TSOs and other TSA employees will have access to a transfer portal, where they can choose to work at another federally-staffed airport.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everett Kelley, AFGE\u2019s National President said this is a step backwards when it comes to airport security, and the way the decision was made was too silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cChanges of this magnitude should not be made behind closed doors without the input of Congress, the flying public, the local airport authorities, and TSA employees themselves,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n
Tampa International Airport will announce the new private contractor in late fall or early winter. Travelers should expect the TSA Gold + program to be implemented at TPA by May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh, PA USA – August 14, 2021: Pittsburgh, Empty Pittsburgh International Airport TSA Entry Line During Last Months…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[31853,135,137,3210,136,3211,4945,3213,145422,4035],"class_list":["post-356286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-afge","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-international-airport","tag-tampa-news","tag-tpa","tag-trump-administration","tag-tsa","tag-tsa-gold","tag-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}