The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced a new initiative aimed at streamlining the screening process in what has been a tough year for air travelers so far, with repeated government shutdowns causing long security lines at airports across the country.
In an internal memo sent May 14, the federal agency informed agents of a new public-private partnership program called TSA Gold+. The concept was first reported by Federal News Network in April. TSA described the new initiative as an “innovative expansion” of the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which contracts with private companies to perform safety screening of airline passengers at 20 U.S. airports under TSA guidelines.
“TSA Gold+ is an extension of this established opt-in program and is designed to foster even greater innovation and resiliency,” the memo states. Meanwhile, the official government website for TSA Gold+ states that as TSA Gold+ celebrates its 25th anniversary, “increasing travel volumes, evolving threats, and funding challenges are creating an opportunity to rethink aviation safety.”
The main difference between the existing SPP model and Gold+ is the scope of the contractor’s responsibilities. Under SPP, TSA owns and procures the testing equipment and contractors provide the labor. According to Homeland Security Today, Gold+ puts contractors in control of both their workforce and technology.
However, the TSA Gold+ website does not specify a timeline for the program’s rollout. An email from Afar to the agency was not immediately returned.
Concerns from labor groups
At least one labor advocacy group has raised concerns about the program, including alleging a lack of transparency from TSA throughout Gold+’s development. Against Giants Labor Advocates, LLC, a Norfolk, Virginia, consulting firm that represents TSA employees, claims that while agency leaders developed and proposed the program, the initiative was never disclosed to Congress or TSA officials.
“TSA employees have worked without pay twice this fiscal year,” Against Giants said in a May 19 Facebook post. “They showed up anyway. Now they … are seeing a privatization framework being built around them that was never disclosed to Congress and was not communicated to Congress until last week. The anti-Giants are documenting this not to paint executives as victims, but because the record demands it and workers deserve to have it stated clearly.”
Scott Robinson, co-founder of Against Giants, said in an email to Afar that the group’s main concern is “the accelerated timeline for deployment relative to the period during which the policy was developed in public.”
“TSA formally announced the program to employees on May 14 and published draft contract requirements on the Federal Acquisition Register less than 24 hours later,” he explained. “The transition from a direct federal operating model to a turnkey, contractor-operated framework with minimal advance administrative direction has created significant operational ambiguity for the staff and industry partners tasked with managing the transition.”
In a May 15 statement, the group also said that “oversight questions” it raised with Congressional offices “remain unasked and unanswered in the Congressional record.”
At a Congressional hearing on April 16, TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil proposed privatizing TSA screening to avoid future funding shortfalls and widespread disruptions like the ones that plagued the industry this spring.
But the TSA’s privatization trend has drawn criticism from groups such as the Federal Government Employees Association, the union that represents TSA employees. The union argues that the TSA’s primary purpose is to protect air travelers, which conflicts with the objectives of private companies seeking profit. “We urge Congress to reject any proposal that would shift the responsibility of protecting air travelers to commercial entities,” it said in a May 2025 blog post.
What travelers need to know about the TSA Gold+ program
It’s important to note that TSA Gold+ is not an expedited security program like TSA PreCheck or Clear that air travelers can apply for. Instead, this is a public-private partnership that airports can choose whether to opt-in or not. Airports that opt in, with support from TSA and private vendors, will implement customized security screening services based on needs and space at no additional cost to travelers.
“TSA Gold+ opens up new revenue streams, strengthens local decision-making, and accelerates the national rollout of cutting-edge solutions by enabling direct investment without waiting for long budget cycles,” the website states.
However, Robinson noted that airports that opt in also have the flexibility to use technology and processes tailored to their facilities, so the traveler experience can vary widely from airport to airport. He explained, “A transition to a framework that relies heavily on local and private capital risks creating a two-tiered security system that is fragmented across the country.” “Passengers at smaller or less well-funded airports may face significantly different technology baselines and checkpoint efficiencies compared to major hub airports.”
Off-site TSA screening efforts in Boston
In addition to rolling out TSA Gold+, the agency continues to experiment with other initiatives aimed at making security screenings more seamless.
Starting June 1, passengers on select flights departing from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) will be able to bypass the hectic security screening at Boston Logan entirely and pass through the TSA checkpoint in Framingham, Massachusetts. After passengers pass through security at the Logan Airport Remote Terminal, a shuttle bus transports them approximately 40 miles to the airport, passes through security and drops them off, streamlining the departure process at BOS.
The service will initially be a pilot program, available only to passengers on Delta and JetBlue flights departing between 5:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The service can be booked up to 90 days in advance and costs $9, with children traveling free with a ticketed family member.