San Francisco Airport Security Essay

On March 15, 1967, the City and County of San Francisco leased 150 acres of pastureland, just east of the Bayshore Highway for what would become the San Francisco Airport. (History of SFO, 2016). Since then, the San Francisco Airport has become one the major international airports in the United States, seeing over 30 million passengers through its terminals during fiscal year 2015. Throughout the years, San Francisco Airport has seen many physical upgrades to handle this flow of traffic. An increase in the number of terminals, more parking areas, moving sidewalks, etc. have all helped to move this living creature along. But more than anything has been the increased security screening that has been needed for the control of 80 thousand or

Airports began to consider moving from the sluggishness and bureaucracy of a federally controlled security agency to a locally controlled private firm. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) wrote to over 200 different airport managers urging them to make the change. "If you look at [the TSA's] performance, have they ever stopped a terrorist? Anyone can get through. We've been very lucky, very fortunate.” But can a private company provide the necessary resources and personnel to fully vet these 80,000+ travelers a day through a busy airport. Covenant, an American owned security officer services company set out to do just that. Established in 1992, Covenant was already an industry leader in providing highly trained security officers to a variety of commercial and government sectors. With the signing of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, Covenant was able to open one more door for

Robert W. Mann, an aviation security analyst, said airports are simply responding to "consumer outrage.” The American Federation of Government Employees has also challenged the privatization of airport security as well, calling it an ineffective "patchwork quilt.” ("As frustration grows, airports consider ditching TSA", 2016) These viewpoints do, of course, have merit. By privatizing airport security, differences in procedures could be found from one airport to another. That could lead to potential weak areas in our nation’s borders when it comes to air travel. Perhaps there are other