TSA Taking Over Background Checks for Aviation Workers

Filed in archive Aviation Travel on November 28, 2007

Security at U.S. airports just got tighter. Not for air passengers, but for more than a million aviation workers.

According an article on USA Today, the Transportation Security Administration announced they will take over conducting background checks for 1.2 million aviation workers, including everyone from flight attendants to mechanics. This change comes on the heal of a few security issues. Last month, an airline worker caught snuggling guns and drugs on a Delta Air Lines flight. Previously, the Federal Aviation Administration was responsible for the background checks.

The TSA takeover means every licensed aviation worker will be checked against the government's complete terror watch list, which the FBI runs, instead of a partial list the FAA has used, Howe said. The FAA licenses 21 types of workers including flight instructors, air-traffic controllers, dispatchers and flight engineers, FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.

Many airport workers, such as baggage handlers and store clerks, are not licensed but already face TSA background checks.

In addition, licensed aviation workers will be re-checked every time the Terrorist Screening Center's database is updated, which happens almost daily, Howe said. The FAA checks people only when they apply for an aviation-worker license and does not have the resources to do "perpetual vetting," Howe said.

"This will raise the baseline of security," Howe said, adding that the TSA's computerized vetting system can easily handle the additional checks.

The TSA last month launched a program mandated by Congress that will result in background checks for more than 1 million port workers.