A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a new bill that would see US$750m invested annually into airport security screening equipment. This would be funded by revenue collected through the 9/11 Passenger Security Fee (PSF).
“Airline passengers currently pay a fee of $5.60 per each one-way ticket, intended to be used to fund aviation security,” the senators said in a joint statement. “Since 2014, more than US$13bn of the collected fees have been diverted to non-security uses, and this legislation ends that diversion and invests these fees back into airport security.”
If passed and signed into law, the Spending Aviation Fees for Equipment, Guaranteeing Upgraded and Advanced Risk Detection and Safety (SAFEGUARDS) Act would allocate US$500m in PSF revenue annually for checked bag explosive detection systems, and would set aside US$250m annually for checkpoint technology improvements, including at exit lanes.
Kevin M Burke, president and CEO of Airports Council International – North America, has welcomed the introduction of the SAFEGUARDS Act, saying it “would provide the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with dedicated resources to deploy next-generation screening technologies”.
Burke added, “As passenger volumes continue to grow and TSA’s technology procurement lags behind operational needs, this bill offers a critical boost to help the agency meet its core mission of screening passengers and baggage effectively and efficiently.”