Florida is Opting Out of TSA

[yizuman]

Build it and they will leave.

Amid concerns over radiation from scanners, civil lawsuits over pat-downs, and general ineptitude on the part of TSA airport personnel, one Florida airport has thrown in the towel. Orlando Sanford International Airport has announced that it will opt out of the TSA’s screening program.

How, you may wonder, can an airport get away with this? Suffice it to say the law is on their side. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, created after 9/11, contains an opt-out clause. Under it, any U.S. airport is free to hire its own private contracting firm to conduct screenings so long as it used Federal screeners for a period of two years.

The Washington Examiner reports that Rep. John Mica, who will soon chair the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, wrote to the heads of more than 150 U.S. airports to remind them they can and should opt out. He wrote:

When the TSA was established, it was never envisioned that it would become a huge, unwieldy bureaucracy which was soon to grow to 67,000 employees. As TSA has grown larger, more impersonal, and administratively top-heavy, I believe it is important that airports across the country consider utilizing the opt-out provision' and use private screening.

In the wake of recent controversies over airport screenings, Orlando Sanford has taken the congressman’s suggestion to heart. The airport’s director, Larry Dale, is quoted at the website of WDBO, a central Florida radio station, as having said:

All of our due diligence shows it's the way to go. You're going to get better service at a better price and more accountability and better customer service.

The private sector doing a better job for less money? What a crazy idea. Just look at the snazzy job the federal government has done at stimulating the moribund economy and fixing our broken health care system.

Source: Florida airport to opt out of TSA screening - National Libertarian | Examiner.com

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