Contents

Letter

Results in Brief
Background
DHS and Congress Have Begun to Address Liability Protection
Issue at Airports Using Private Screeners, but Stakeholder
Concerns about Liability and Other Program Issues Remain
TSA Provides Some Incentives to Contractors to Achieve Cost-
Savings and Plans to Shift More Cost Risk to Contractors at
Larger Airports in 1 to 2 Years
Performance Goals and Measures Developed by TSA to Assess SPP
Contractors Have Not Been Approved by DHS
Conclusions
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

Appendix I               Scope and Methodology                          39
Appendix II              Comments from the Department of Homeland Security 42
Appendix III             GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments          45
Related GAO Reports                                                     46
Tables

Table 1: Airports That Participated in the 2-Year Private Screener
Pilot Program
Table 2: Non-Pilot Program Airports That Applied to Use Private
Screeners to Conduct Screening Operations from
November 2004 through January 2006
Table 3: Type of Contract and Contract Amount for the Four
Private Screening Contractors for the Period November 19,
2004, through May 18, 2006
Table 4: TSA Performance Measures for Evaluating SPP
Contractors

GAO-06-166 Aviation Security

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