A Return to Private Security Screening at Airports?

Implementation of the security screening opt-out provision is likely to be an issue of considerable interest during the remainder of the 108th Congress. While privatization advocates are calling for an expansion of the opt-out provision to allow for greater program flexibility and less federal control of private airport screening, advocates for federal control of aviation security view a return to private screening as a move that could reintroduce deficiencies in aviation security that existed before the federalization of passenger screening under ATSA.